


Shadows and Sand

by Majsasaurus



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Awkward Crush, Everyone is BAMF, F/M, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, M/M, Minor Character Death, Mother-Son Relationship, Other, Other characters feature too, Revenge, Shikadai is a big idiot, Sibling Love, Teamwork, Violence, nara family, vengeance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-10-26 06:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20737763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Majsasaurus/pseuds/Majsasaurus
Summary: Shikamaru's secrets are falling apart, while Shikadai digs deep in the Nara forest.Someone was not dead after all.





	1. Sand

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy some Sand Siblings and Nara Family feels, because I sure am.
> 
> Also, English is not my first language.

A sandstorm raged outside of The Village Hidden in the Sand. Not that the company of three minded the storm, as The Village Hidden in the Sand, Suna, was safe of the swirling sand and dust. The cliffs and rocks surrounding the village was enough cover. And the company has one marvellous guide to show them the roads between the buildings made of sand clay.

The was another one in the company who was pretty skilled in finding his way through the quirks of the twisting alleys, but he was nowhere as used to the roads as his wife. Before they moved together, he had visited her in her childhood home many times, in the innermost circles of the fine quarters near the Kazekage’s office and the main administration halls of Suna. It had taken him only one visit to realize how cherished and important her family was in the village, and her decision to move into his estate in Konoha was a difficult one. They both had argued and discussed the issue from the beginning to end, and when she became pregnant with their son she finally decided.

Shikamaru had not expected her to decide to move to Konoha. He was already prepared to drop the bomb to his Hokage and tell him about him moving to Suna.

But Temari sacrificed her home for him. For their child.

The attitude towards children in Suna was a harsh one, and though Temari had been raised according to the tradition she, deep inside, knew their son could have it better. A less strict childhood.

It was of course impossible for her to abandon all the negative aspects of Sunas child raising traditions – Shikadai had endured a great deal of slaps when he’d done stupid things- but Konoha was indeed a more chill environment for a child.

“Are we there yet?” their son, Shikadai, asked. He had been in Suna at least once a year, but it seemed he had forgot how difficult it was to navigate in the inner circles of Suna city since the last visit.

“Soon”, Temari said as she greeted an older lady.

“Greetings, princess”, the lady said and bowed low. “The Kazekage will be delighted upon your visit.”

“Who was that?” Shikadai asked when they had passed the woman.

“I don’t know”, Temari answered. “The citizens of Suna tend to recognize me and they greet. I am called a princess, after all.”

“Because you’re the fourth Kazekage’s daughter?” Shikadai asked.

“Precisely.”

“How was he? My grandfather?”

Temari pinched her lips together into a thin line.

“He was a misguided man”, she said. “He did what he thought was right, even if… well, even if it kind of made our lives difficult.”

Shikamaru held a steady gaze at his wife. Her childhood was a subject she sometimes briefly mentioned while sober and something she used to rant about while drunk. Her own painful memories of how they were treated, how they were forced to treat the youngest sibling, how they were isolated from other children, how Temari grew to fear her youngest brother.

She and Kankuro, her other brother, had been terrified of their youngest brother, and terrified of the responsibility she and Kankuro had over him. With a mother dead, an uncle dead and a father who didn’t see them as anything else but a bloodline they had to do the tending of Gaara.

Shikamaru did know those memories where the biggest reason why Temari wanted to raise her son in Konoha.

“There”, Temari said and pointed at the Kazekage’s office. “We’re here.”

Before they even got to the doorsteps the door flung open and the first thing the trio saw was a black hood and purple face paint.

“You’re here!” Kankuro shouted. “Gods, it’s great to see you all again. How are you?”

“I’d forgotten the feeling of having sand in my ears since my last visit, but otherwise I’m fine”, Temari said, hugging her brother. “The boys are alright too. Hey, Kankuro, let go of me or I’ll have purple cheeks. Oh, and happy birthday.”

“Thanks. It would suit you”, Kankuro jested and pushed him off her. He waved his hand at his brother-in-law and his nephew. “Come inside. The cake is ready.”

“You wouldn’t have needed to bake a cake.” Temari said.

“It’s topped with chestnut cream”, Kankuro hurried to say and winked an eye at Temari, knowing it’s her absolute favourite cake.

Shikamaru drowned a snort as he also knew how weak Temari is for chestnut cream. His son, on the other hand, didn’t seem to realize what a delicious treat he was about to have.

“What does it taste like?” he whispered to his dad as they walked into the estate.

“It’s good”, Shikamaru answered and shook hands with Kankuro. “Happy birthday. What was it, 34?”

“I’m as old as dirt”, Kankuro said. “Yeah, 34.”

“Any grey hair, yet?”

“Not a single one. You can take the guest room on the third floor. I made the beds for you already.”

“You hear that, Shikadai?” Temari shouted from the staircase to her boy at the bottom of it. “You can have that soft bed you kept talking about when we got home from out last visit.”

The trio threw their backpacks into the guestroom (and Shikadai got the soft bed) and headed to the living room.

“I guessed you were here already”, Temari said, sparkling with happiness, when they saw Gaara sitting in the sofa. “You look good. Baby brother.”

“I helped with the baking, mind you”, Gaara scoffed and received the hug from his older sister.

“You did?” Temari exclaimed. “Well, well, look at you all independent men, not having a woman to help you in daily tasks. Where’s your little boy?”

“Shinki?” Gaara said, almost as it was a surprise he even had a child. “He’ll be here shortly.” He peeped to see at the guests behind Temari. “Nara. Welcome to Suna. Got any sand in that black hair of yours yet?”

Shikamaru tugged at his ponytail, laughing.

“So much it’s a drag”, he said.

“Shikadai, you could actually do us a favour and get Shinki here”, Gaara proposed. “He’s in his room, one floor down. Probably playing those games.”

“He plays games?” Shikadai asked, with eyes gleaming. “We’ll be right back.”

After he’d left the room, Temari shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, now we won’t get either of them up here”, she said. “Shikadai loves those simulation games. And the cards. Do they sell those cards here? Shikadai has a lot of them.”

“That’s more cake for us!” Kankuro said, rubbing his hands together. “Who care about the kids? Come one, Temari, Shikamaru, get the first bites.”

“This is why you don’t have children”, Temari said, rolling her eyes. “Shikamaru, you get the first bite. You’re the guest here.”

Shikamaru would normally refuse, insisting on having Kankuro getting the first bite, it was his birthday after all, but he was starving and he, too, knew that chestnut cream was delicious. He cut a piece for him, and continued to serve Temari, Kankuro and Gaara.

“You trained him well, Temari”, Kankuro jested, and both Temari and Shikamaru rolled their eyes.

“It’s called decency”, Shikamaru said, not a single tone of bitterness in his voice. He was actually amused by Kankuro’s weird humour, and sometimes it made him wish he also had a sibling on his own.

A distant whistle rang from behind the corner, where the kitchen was.

“That would be the coffee”, Gaara said with a voice smooth as silver. “You’ve learned to drink coffee yet, Nara?”

“Only if the milk-coffee ratio is thirty percent coffee and seventy percent milk”, Shikamaru said.

“He’s weak”, Temari laughed. “He had never tasted black coffee before I gave it to him. Still doesn’t fall into his taste.”

“You know what, Shikamaru, first, we don’t have milk here at the moment, second, in this household we drink our coffee black”, Kankuro said with a seriousness he had trouble keeping up. After choking a laugh, he straightened his back and shoved a piece of cake into his mouth. “But seriously, though. We actually don’t have milk right now, because I forgot you want it.”

“It’s okay”, Shikamaru said. “It’ll be troublesome, but I’ll have it your Suna way.”

“Does Shikadai drink coffee yet?” Gaara asked Temari and an evil smirk crept up her lips.

“No, he hasn’t tasted it yet”, she said. “But I think today is the day he will. Now, where are those boys anyways? The game can’t be _that_ interesting.”

While Temari went to grab the boys, Shikamaru offered a sheepish shrug of his shoulders to her brother.

“She’s really into this coming-of-age-thing with the coffee”, he said. “Is it really that common here?”

Kankuro raised an eyebrow and Gaaras face was as impossible to decipher as usual.

“It’s actually a big deal”, Kankuro said. “I take it Shikadai doesn’t know. I’ll get the coffee for us!”

He crashed into the kitchen and left Shikamaru alone with Gaara in the living room. After all these years Shikamaru still feels a little unwary when he’s alone with Gaara. It’s not that he doesn’t trust him, but it’s something that makes him a little bit scared.

Soon enough Kankuro got back with six giant cups and a huge pan of coffee, and at the same time Temari returned with her son and nephew. As soon as she saw the coffee mugs she smirked.

“Well, well”, she said. “Isn’t it time for some good stuff. Shikadai, it’s time for you become a big boy.”

Shikadai lifted his eyebrows in confusion as Temari poured coffee into a mug for him. Shinki made an amused snort and looks in disbelief at his cousin.

“Do you not drink coffee?” he asked with honest astonishment. “What are you, a baby?”

“I’m not a baby! What’s the deal with coffee anyways?”

“You see, Shikadai, here in Suna learning to drink black coffee as a genin is part of your path towards a full-fledged shinobi”, Temari explained. “Senseis usually treat their genin teams with coffee after a succeeded mission. It’s a tradition.”

“Every ninja here drink coffee to celebrate completed missions”, Kankuro added. “If one does not learn to appreciate black coffee, they’re considered children. Taste it, it’s good.”

Shikadai took the mug in his hands and stared at the almost black liquid inside of it. He glanced at Shinki, who already started to drink out of his mug. Shinki’s gaze at Shikadai dared him to take a sip.

Shikadai flipped the cup, swallowed too much drink for his own good, and made a dramatic face at the sensation of burning, bitter liquid sliding down his throat.

“Uugh”, he said after swallowing all of it.

“It’s not sake, you’re supposed to enjoy it, not shot it all at once”, Temari said, unamused. “And it’s still quite hot.”

“Thanks, mum, I noticed”, Shikadai said and Shinki had a hard time not laughing. “Wait, did you all start eating the cake without us? Unfair.”

“Sorry, kids”, Kankuro said. “My birthday and all. Don’t worry, there’s more in the fridge.”

Temari leaned back and sipped her coffee. It tasted like her genin days when Baki always treated the three of them coffee after missions. It tasted like nostalgia and home. Kankuro’s laugh sounded like home. She was home. And yet, she was far away from home.

The following day was an incredibly hot one, though it was only May, and not full summer. Shikamaru had barely gotten out of bed before groaning how troublesome the weather in a desert was, and

Temari could only lift an eyebrow in a _no shit, genius_-manner to him before laughing.

“But I mean every word of it”, he said as he kissed her. “Where’s Shikadai?”

“In Shinki’s room”, Temari said. “Playing games again.”

“At this hour?”

“We’ve been awake for a good three hours already”, Temari said. “Got to salvage the good hours of decent temperatures. You’re the one waking up when the sun is hottest.”

“You don’t know how glad I am we’re not living here”, Shikamaru said, at the same time as Shikadai opened the door. Shikamaru almost got the chock of his life, as his son had face paint in the same red colour as Shinki’s, trailing down his eyes and nose.

“What’s up with the makeup?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“I just wanted to try it out”, Shikadai shrugged. “It looks nice, but is such a drag to apply, seriously. I don’t know how Shinki has the time to put it on every day. Or uncle Kankuro for that matter. Anyways, Shinki and I are going to the bath house. Where’s the summoning scroll with my bathing pants?”

“Swimming is a good idea”, Temari said, eyes looking fondly at her son. “But, if you want to remove your makeup before hitting the water, do it with alcohol. Water will only smudge it out, not remove it."

“Yeah, Shinki told me already”, Shikadai said lazily and summoned his bathing pants out of the scroll Shikamaru tossed at him. “He said the bath house is really old. Like a thousand and if you go down the sewers you can find old corpses of people who drowned there.”

“What lies is he putting into your head?” Shikamaru laughed. “Just don’t be stupid and go down the sewers, okay?”

“Is that a dare, dad?”

“The bath house is old, but not _that_ old”, Temari said. “Be back by dinner. We need to head back to Konoha in the evening – yes, sweetie, we’re taking the night train when it’s not as hot, don’t give me that face. You can sleep in the train.”

Shikadai groaned and Temari could _hear_ him think “what a drag” just the same way her husband had done when she decided they would travel by night.

Shikadai’s cousin appeared by the door, with a clean face, this time. He had a white cloth in his hand and Temari recognized it as the alcohol cloth for removing the face paint.

“Come on, then”, he said and threw the cloth at Shikadai, who aggressively wiped his face. “The first to reach the bath house will be the next Kazekage!”

Shikadai dashed out of the room and when the thundering footsteps of the boys had vanished Shikamaru sighed at the sight of Temari’s puzzled face.

“He doesn’t want to become Kazekage anyways, so you don’t have to worry”, he simply said.

“I know he doesn’t want to”, Temari said. “It just annoys me that the elders bullied Gaara when Shikadai was born, as if Gaara can’t decide himself whether he even want a wife or not. Whatever. They have their heir now. And we have ours.”

“Would you seriously want him to become the Kazekage?” Shikamaru couldn’t figure out based on her tone if she was serious or not.

“No”, Temari answered. “And it doesn’t matter. Let the boys joke about the Kage seat, it’s just for fun. Both know Shinki is the heir. Now, Kankuro had some new designs he wanted to show me. Want to join?”

Even if it was proposed as a question, it wasn’t. Shikamaru followed Temari across the road to the workshop Kankuro stored all his puppets in. Shikamaru briefly revisited the memory of the meeting with the Suna council, the whole extended family, and their barely two-month old baby. The meeting was not a great success, and an embarrassment for all of Temari’s family. He remembered the council being utterly troubled by the fact that Shikadai, who was considered a Konoha-nin, was the first-born out of the siblings’ future children. It would be a scandal if, by any chance, both Gaara and Kankuro were to die before they had any children themselves, and the only heir to the Kage seat would be Shikadai.

Temari had breastfed during the whole ordeal. She was still tired from their three-day journey, and her nerves were short, which became very obvious when she only offered snarky comments to the council. Shikamaru had not dared utter a word, as this was actually not his business, but he got second-hand embarrassment as well. And after Gaara had promised to get a wife and an heir, everyone was sulking.

Kankuro and Gaara’s first meeting with their nephew wasn’t executed under the happiest of circumstances, but it was still a tender meeting. The council had a point, and if Shikamaru was being honest, he was actually relieved that his son was to become the next Nara clan head instead.

Shikamaru was welcomed with a strong smell of coffee from the workshop that brought him back to reality. After listening through Kankuro’s fervent talk about all the new techniques and quirks of the newest version of Salamander, which was all dissected on a table, he actually wanted to have that black coffee.

They sat down and sipped their coffee, and Shikamaru got the sensation that both siblings had had multiple cups before he even got out of bed.

“Did you know that they’ve built a resort at the oasis we used for forest training?” Kankuro asked Temari casually.

She froze.

“A what?”

“Yeah. A hotel and all”, Kankuro answered. “A civilian entrepreneur bought the land from us a couple of years ago, and now there’s a big waterpark.”

“He bought our oasis? How could Gaara sell it? Where do genin do their forest training now?”

“Money issues. The man paid well and to be honest, it looks great”, Kankuro said. “I’ve not tried the water park yet, they opened last month.”

“What does it look like?”

“It’s huge”, Kankuro said. “They expect costumers from all over Wind Country, all the way from the capital. But shinobi are welcomed too, that was our deal. For free. We should visit there, you and me. I don’t have any upcoming missions. I just have to put together this bad boy, and then I’m ready to go.”

“It’s just not some stroll to the market to get there and we leave tonight”, Temari said, pinching her lips together. “And Shikadai’s at the bath house as we speak.”

“So why don’t you stay a couple of days? Or weeks.”

“Stay?”

“Yeah”, Kankuro said and shrugged his shoulders. “If Shikamaru has to get back to work he can do so himself. Do you have any upcoming missions, Temari?”

“Not until I’m to work as an escort and interpreter for the old couple Nibui when they travel through Fire Country”, Temari said, rolling her eyes. The old couple Nibui were part of a feudal lord clan from the southern parts of Wind Country. This said couple was one of the richest and influential civilians in Wind Country. She had escorted them before, and she had almost died out of boredom. “To their summer house in Hot Spring Country.”

This couple also happened to belong to a language minority of Wind Country, and as Temari had taken lessons in said language as a child, she was somewhat fluent in the tongue of southern Wind Country. Naruto, as the Hokage, had almost literally smashed the mission papers in Temari’s hands, as she was the only shinobi in Fire Country who actually understood the language.

“Yes, but you know they start their journey from us”, Kankuro said. “And we need to find a shinobi here who can escort them to Fire Country, so you could take over from there. But it would indeed be way easier if you could take them right away, here.”

“That would be in seven days”, Temari said quietly.

“So, stay seven days here.”

Temari let the words sink in. The casual smile on her little brother’s lips really did throw her off.

“Stay?”

“What part of the word ‘stay’ is it you don’t understand?”

“I think, Temari, he wants you to stay for seven days and relive the better days of your childhood”, Shikamaru laughed. “Since when have you been this slow?”

“It just came so sudden”, Temari huffed and her cheeks had gone into a blush pink tone. “I – I don’t know. It would be wonderful, truly, Kankuro, it would – but…”

“Temari, I think Shikamaru can make his own damn dinner”, Kankuro said, smiling at her. “Please. Stay for a while. It would be really fun. We could travel around for a while and spar together, and then when the old couple begin their travel to Hot Spring Country, you take them from here. You are in our register as a shinobi after all, so there won’t be any problems.”

And after that sale speech of her brother, she was convinced. This was actually a fine chance to relive the golden days of her younger years. She wanted to see that hotel resort at the oasis that used to be the only forest within reasonable distance from Suna, where they all practised motor skills. They used to swim and have genuinely fun, she and Kankuro. That oasis had been a reality escape for them both.

“Yes”, Temari said. “I’ll stay. And you’ll regret you ever suggested visiting that water park with me.”

“You didn’t drown”, Shikamaru noted when Shikadai and Shinki came back from the bath house later that day.

“No shit”, Shikadai answered and the tone of it gave away that puberty, in all its glory, had hit him earlier that spring. He used snarky comebacks whenever he could nowadays, and all reaction he got from Shikamaru was rolling eyes.

“You want food or not?”

“Stop being like mum.”

“Well, behave then.” Shikamaru purposely lifted the newspaper to cover his face and he _knew _what kind of face his thirteen-year-old son made at him without even seeing it. He pretended to read the papers but listened very closely to the discussion the two boys had.

“Why don’t you wear your forehead protector on your forehead, where it belongs?” Shinki asked Shikadai with a curious tone.

“Dad thought it would be a good idea to have in on the sleeve instead”, Shikadai answered quietly. “He used to have it there before.”

“Because that forehead of yours contain so many important strategies that a piece of metal would disturb your thoughts?” Shinki teased. “Would you like to wear it like everyone else?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’d suit me.”

“Have you even tried?”

“Not really.”

“What does that even mean, ‘not really’?”

“Just get over it, Shinki.”

“I want to see what you look like with your forehead protector where it should be”, Shinki said, now in a more serious voice.

“It’s sown into the fabric”, Shikadai said. “It would really be a pain to sew it back again after tearing it off.”

“I have an extra, you can try mine.”

Shikamaru heard Shinki poke about in a drawer and then the groans of his son as Shinki put on the forehead protector on him. He finally found something interesting from the papers but was immediately interrupted by a gasp. He dropped the papers and saw Temari with wide eyes, staring at her son.

Shikadai had a crimson coloured forehead protector with the Suna crest engraved into the silver metal around his head, and what made him looking even more foreign was the fact that he had taken out his band keeping his hair in a ponytail. His black hair fell down and reached his shoulders, framing his face and forehead protector.

Shikamaru put carefully down his newspaper and, just as his wife did, stared at Shikadai.

“You… you look just like…”, Temari said under her breath, and undid her crimson scarf she wore around her waist. Carefully she tied it around Shikadais waist, who, to Shikamaru’s surprise, didn’t complain.

“If you overlook the obvious Nara hair, he looks just like you”, Kankuro said from the door. Temari’s eyes gleamed of nostalgia and pride. Shikamaru looked carefully at her, and then at Shikadai, who inspected the scarf around his waist. A little sting hit him in the stomach, and he felt… jealous. Why was he feeling jealous?

Then he realized that the sting was not jealousy, it was guilt. Why was he feeling guilty?

Shinki smiled at Shikadai, as if he had proven something. Shikadai rolled his eyes and undid the forehead protector.

“Maybe red is my colour”, he laughed dryly and gave it back to Shinki.

“Shikadai”, Temari said, now more seriously. “Thanks to your uncle you and your dad will travel back to Konoha alone. I will stay here for seven more days.”

“What? You’ll stay?”

“Yeah. We’ll travel across the country for a while, Kankuro and I. Have some fun”, she said, already imagining winning Kankuro in some childish spar. “Drink coffee seven times a day, like one should. You two will manage just fine.”

“Sounds great”, Shikadai said, and shifted his gaze over to his father. “We’ll be fine. Right, dad?”

Shikamaru, who’d been deep into his own head trying to figure out why he was feeling guilty, lifted his eyes from the table and tried his best to not show that he hadn’t really been listening.

“Yes, of course”, he just said bluntly. Temari snorted at him as she untied the scarf off her son.

“Then it’s settled”, she said. “I’ll come home after my quest is finished. And Shikamaru, I know your lazy ass doesn’t want to make dinner all the time, but please, do not crash into the Yamanaka’s more than once. It’s embarrassing.”

Shikamaru winced at the accusation, but he knew there was a seed of truth in Temari’s words. The last time she had been away for a longer period he and Shikadai had eaten at Ino’s, at Choji’s and at Kurenai’s to avoid making dinner himself. After Temari had, with a very threatening voice, commanded him to make his own dinner, he had given in, and learned how to cook, once and for all. He had even started enjoying it, though it was a drag and he messed up a lot.

The worst thing about visiting Suna, according to Shikamaru, was eating the weird cuisine they had. Chestnut cream was delicious, but their bitter food was the total opposite to the food Shikamaru had eaten while growing up.

The final dinner the two families shared together before Shikamaru and Shikadai was to take their leave was what was considered a delicacy, and that was fried scorpions.

Shikadai ate happily, just as the rest of the native Sunese, but Shikamaru had to force the arachnids down his throat. Just the mere thought of swallowing scorpions made shivers go down his spine, but he managed to do it. Barely.

Temari made sure he was aware of her evil smirks as she glared at him occasionally, happily chewing the crunchy parts of the scorpions, and that _sound_ equalled nails against a blackboard in Shikamaru’s ears.

“You’re evil”, he mimed at her and she laughed at him.

“Only for you”, she mimed back and winked. Shikadai noticed their silent bickering and he made a dramatic face at them, because of how embarrassing he found them.

“When are we leaving?” he asked and looked out of the window, at the setting sun.

“The train leave in an hour, so you better pack your stuff as soon as you’ve finished those – “

“Dad, you have to eat yours as well.” Shikadai grinned just like his mother. Shikamaru threw a glace around the table, to look at Temari’s evil face, at Kankuro’s amusing face, at Gaara and Shinki, who both looked like they were surrounded by idiots.

“Yes, Nara, eat your scorpions”, Kankuro teased, and that was the last straw for Shikamaru. He grabbed the final scorpion and chugged it down like a barbarian.

“Okay, fine, thanks for the food”, Shikamaru said with pretend irritation, with the scorpion tails still in his mouth. “Hurry up, Shikadai, we need to get going if we’re not to miss our train.”

Shikadai sighed, and he’d clearly been embarrassed by his father’s show.

“You’re such a pain sometimes”, he said and followed his dad. “Thank you for the food, uncle Kankuro, mum.”

“Goodbye, Shikadai”, Temari said tenderly at the train station. “Behave well while I’m gone.”

“Yeah, yeah, mum”, Shikadai said and let his mum kiss him on his forehead. “You’re only gone for nine days in total, nothing bad will happen anyways.”

“It better not”, Temari said. She shifted her attention to her husband and gave him a kiss on the lips. “Take care.”

“I will”, Shikamaru said. “And you better have one hell of ride in that water park, or whatever you’re going to do. Have fun for the three of us.”

“You’re just happy you’re not coming with us, because it’d be too much of a drag to race in a water park”, Temari grinned.

“I would let you win, always”, Shikamaru said, and winked at her. A slight blush covered Temari’s cheeks.

“Daaaad! The train is about to leave!” Shikadai hollered from the train. “You can smooch with mum later, ugh.”

It was now Shikamaru’s turn to turn bright red. Temari burst out in laugrweh and gave him a gentle push.

“Go now”, she said.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Kankuro, Gaara”, he said and bowed lightly to his brothers-in-laws. 

“Take care!” Kankuro said and Gaara waved at Shikamaru and Shikadai. They waved back, just in time before the doors shut and the train whistled.

They found empty seats and Shikadai fell soon enough asleep. Shikamaru let his face rest against the window, as he looked upon square kilometres of desert wasteland dash past them, and above the sandy cover, a bright sky full of stars.

Why had he felt guilt when Shikadai was dressed up as a Sand shinobi? Or was it jealousy? Why was it so hard to even determine a feeling?

His eyelids became heavier.

It was now Shikadai and him, alone for nine days. What fun father-son activities were they about to have once the everyday hit them again? He couldn’t work as much as usual now when Temari wasn’t home, because even if Shikadai could manage all by himself, he didn’t want Shikadai to prepare food and do housework alone.

Even if Shikadai was 13 years old, and by their society’s standard a responsible almost-adult, he was still a child.


	2. Something dark

“Shikadai”, Shikamaru said from the tree branch he was standing on. He leaned back against the trunk of the big tree and smirked at the frustrated look his son gave him. “They’re easier to find if you actually look at the ground and not the trees.” 

"This is so troublesome”, Shikadai muttered and shoved his hands down his pockets. “I’m not about to search every bush to find them, you know! Is this really how it’s supposed to be done?”

“Do you expect the deer to just drop their antlers right at our feet?” Shikamaru asked. “Even if they’re domestic, they’re animals. The antlers drop wherever they drop. And most of the times it’s in bushes or other troublesome places. But the antlers won’t pick up themselves.”

“How are you even sure there are antlers here? They might be over there, or there”, Shikadai said and pointed in different directions.

“I’m not sure”, Shikamaru simply replied. “They might be somewhere else, but we have to start searching somewhere.”

“Why aren’t you helping me?”

_Because looking for antlers in brushwood is a drag in the ass_, Shikamaru thought to himself and his mind raced back in time to a time when he was twelve, and certainly more immature and lazier than Shikadai is now, and he spent time looking for deer antlers with his own father. He had whined like a baby at the very thought, and many times, when he was alone, he had just gone for a nap in the forest and lied that he didn’t find any antlers this time.

One time his mother found him sleeping in the meadow, and after that, he never came back from the forest without antlers. To withstand Yoshino’s scolding was even worse than spending time doing troublesome tasks. Sometimes it would take hours to find anything, even if he did all the background check. Found fresh poop, check, followed the deer paths, check, sometimes even chill among the deer herds, check, and still not finding any.

“Find any poop?”

“Old ones”, Shikadai said. “Dad, pleeaaase, help me.”

Shikamaru jumped down from the tree branch.

“I’ll help you. But you fighting against and winning over your own frustration is what you should aim at, not giving up by getting help from me”, Shikamaru said. “This time I’ll help, but one day you’ll be on your own here, and it might take a long time before you find any antlers. Then, by being calm and rational you win over frustration and then they’ll magically appear.”

“If it only was that easy”, Shikadai said. “Come. Let’s follow this deer path and look in the meadow.”

They walked down the path, and to their pleasant surprise, one of the deer, Kurimu, slept with a baby fawn in the grass when they arrived.

“Look”, Shikamaru said, pointing at the deer. “Kurimu gave birth not too long ago. What should we call the fawn?”

“Hachimitsu”, Shikadai said without hesitation. “Honey.”

“Hachimitsu, you say”, Shikamaru echoed. “Let’s not disturb them. There’s another meadow west of here, and if I recall correctly, the possibility of finding antlers there is slightly bigger.”

The trees were huge in that part of the forest, and the soil ran deep before hitting rocks. The reason it was easier to find antlers in those parts was simple; there wasn’t as much grass and bushes there as in the parts closer to their home. One could spot the antlers way easier there.

Shikadai turned around to see one of the stags following them at a safe distance, which was odd. They usually minded their own business.

“I think Kyojin is following us”, he said silently. Shikamaru threw a glance at the big deer.

“It seems so”, he said. “He just wants to look after us. These parts can be scary sometimes.”

“What do you mean ‘scary’?” Shikadai asked, his voice filled with sarcasm. “You’re not scared of anything.”

“I’m scared of many things”, Shikamaru responded immediately. “Like losing you, or your mum, or Mirai.”

“But nothing will happen to us”, Shikadai said. “Why are these parts scary?”

“Look, Shikadai.” Shikamaru stopped and scratched the back of his neck. “You see that big tree trunk there, that’s fallen? That’s where the nice parts stop, and beyond that trunk, the scary parts take over. And it’s forbidden to walk into the scary parts. Do you understand, Shikadai? Even when you’re out here alone, and I’m not here to guide you, you mustn’t under any circumstances walk into the forbidden parts of our forest.”

“Why?”

“Do you understand? Promise me to never walk beyond that tree.”

“But the deer path continues beyond it”, Shikadai tried. “And if I have Kyojin or some other deer to look after me, I won’t be scared.”

“Promise me, Shikadai.”

“I’m not scared, dad.”

“But I am!”

Silence.

Shikadai stared at his father. A fire of rage burned in his eyes, and that sight alone was enough to frighten Shikadai.

“Dad?”

“One day I will tell you what happened in beyond that tree”, Shikamaru said, rubbing his forehead. “But right now, you must not go there. And if I ever catch you walking beyond this line… Trust me. Do not go in there.”

“Okay…”

“Promise me, Shikadai.”

“I promise to not go beyond that tree, dad.” Shikadai let his gaze fall, down to his feet. And right there… “Look! Antlers!” He picked up the most magnificent antlers he’s ever seen, with seven antler thorns. “These are huge.”

“Amazing”, Shikamaru said. “I told you it’s easier to find them here.”

“I bet there are tons of antlers in the forbidden parts, if no one goes there”, Shikadai said, and what he said was just honesty, but the words came out hurtful to Shikamaru.

“Now listen, I go there once in a while and collect what there is to collect, but that’s my job, and mine alone”, he said with a freezing voice. “I’m the clan head, but more importantly, I am your father and you will obey me.”

He had never said words even like those before. Shikadai gave him a long look before he looked down and clutched the antlers. Shikamaru wasn’t like this. He had not even once demanded Shikadai to subject to him like this before. The father he was, was a smiling one, saying things like _He will learn from his mistakes, Temari. Let him make them and fix them himself,_ not one demanding obedience.

”I’m sorry”, Shikadai offered. ”We found the antlers. Shall we go back?”

“Yes”, Shikamaru said, and deep inside he thought_ let’s leave this godforsaken place_.

When they reached their home, a familiar figure sat on the steps into the house.

“Mirai!” Shikadai shouted. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t I get to visit whenever I want?” Mirai answered with a teasing smile. “Did you find those antlers today?”

“Yes, it was _me_ who found them”, Shikadai said proudly. “Look how huge they are!”

“That’s a lot of medicine”, Mirai noted. “Will you also pulverise them and deliver them to the hospital?”

“Nah, that’s grandma’s job”, Shikadai said. “Or, well, usually it’s dad who finds them too, but today it was me.”

“Sensei”, Mirai greeted and bowed lightly to Shikamaru behind his son.

“Oh, come on, Mirai!” Shikadai rolled his eyes. “There are no one else here but us, you don’t have to be so formal!”

“He is my sensei”, Mirai said with furrowed eyebrows.

“But you know, Mirai, you can also call me by my name”, Shikamaru smiled. “Come inside. I’ll make some tea for us.”

“Yes, no black coffee!” Shikadai let out with a relief.

“Black coffee?” Mirai echoed after removing her shoes.

“Mum’s family drink black coffee a thousand times a day”, Shikadai explained when they sat down by the table. “Apparently all genin in Suna learn to drink coffee as a sign of growing up, or whatever. It tastes horrible. Such a drag, honestly.”

“Oh”, Mirai said. “Speaking of which, where is your mum?”

“She stayed in Suna”, Shikadai said. “She wanted to hang out with her brothers for a while. She’s home in seven days.”

“Ah, too bad”, Mirai pouted and leaned back so Shikamaru could place a cup of tea in front of her. “Thank you, sens – Shikamaru.”

“Why is it too bad?” Shikadai asked.

“I was going to ask her to teach me some new Wind Style techniques”, Mirai said. “I know the basic ones – the ones my dad used to do – but if I’m going to be jonin by next month, I have to train some more. And your mum’s hurricanes are among the best there is.”

“You’re going to be upgraded to jonin next month?”

“That’s the plan”, Mirai said and glances over to Shikamaru, who sat beside her. “You think I’m going to make it?”

“Of course”, Shikamaru said. “You’re very good at the Fire Style already, and you should definitely ask Temari to teach you some more Wind Style when she comes back.”

“That’s awesome”, Shikadai said, still thinking about Mirai becoming jonin.

Mirai shifted over to look at Shikadai.

“And when are you going to get a fan?” she asked teasingly. Shikadai raised two brows at her.

“A fan?”

“Like your mum”, she continued. “You know only one Wind jutsu, and you mastered it in zero time. I had to train and train to learn the same jutsu. If you actually put your mind into it, you could be a great Wind user.”

“I know, I know”, Shikadai sighed. “Maybe we can train together when she comes back.”

Shikamaru looked at both of them, trying his hardest to not grin so his cheek would hurt. Seeing Mirai and Shikadai together, seeing them planning trainings together made him so happy. His both children. Even if he wasn’t Mirai’s father, he was the father figure in Mirai’s life, and he felt for her just the same way he felt for Shikadai. She was his daughter; no matter what people say.

“But… _do_ you have coffee beans here?” Mirai asked after finishing her cup. Shikadai opened slowly his mouth and couldn’t do but stare at her. “I want to taste coffee. I’ve never had it before.”

“You’re a madman!” Shikadai cried out.

“As a matter of fact, we do”, Shikamaru said, smirking. “I bet Temari doesn’t notice the bag is not as full as when she left.”

“Count me out!” Shikadai said. “I’m not having that abomination again.”

Later Mirai learned that trying black coffee was not the greatest of ideas, but she bravely drank everything, listening to the snorts and laughs of the boy she regarded as her little brother.

Later, after Mirai had left and Shikadai had retreated to his room to play games Shikamaru sat on the porch, just as he did every night before going to bed. He routinely lit the cigarette in his hand and inhaled smoke. One smoke per day was his policy. Just one. Just one calm moment, with just him and his brain and the calming motion of smoking; moving the cigarette in and out between his lips.

This was his moment, when he could reflect upon the day. Sometimes Temari would sit with him and smoke too; but those days were rare. She knew how much he cherished his loneliness during the final rays of sun, looking at the clouds like he had no problems in the world.

This particular day, as Shikamaru tasted the bitterness of smoke and tar in his throat, he thought about that one sting of guilt he had while they were in Suna. Why had he been feeling guilty?

Then it hit him. He was feeling guilty for somewhat robbing a culture of his son. While Shikadai had grown up visiting Suna multiple times a year he was always subjected to the culture here in Konoha. Shikamaru had been so obsessed with the thought of keeping the Ino-Shika-Cho-dynamic alive, along with Ino and Choji, that Shikadai had never even had a choice.

He was embarrassed by the very thought of Shikadai pushing his affinity with Wind away in favour of learning the Shadow Jutsus instead, because that was probably what Shikadai felt was expected of him. And of course it was true, of course Shikamaru had expected him to master the Shadows before anything else.

He thought of how easy the Wind jutsus were for Shikadai, versus how hard they had been for Mirai. He could really master the Wind Style with perfection, especially if he got a fan too. And that would mean to embrace the Sand in him, more than the Leaf.

Shikamaru was jealous of Temari for how much of her there was in his son, how much she could teach him, how much Sand there was in him.

As Shikamaru reached the filter of the cigarette he put it down, and his fingers itched, wanting to reach for another, like they always did when he was uneased. If he had an extra hard week at work, he did smoke a little bit more than just one per day, but most of the times he could fight against the urge.

He raised from his seat on the porch and opened the door to Shikadai’s room. He laid in bed and barely lifted his head off his pillow.

“Good night, Shikadai”, Shikamaru said gently to him.

“Good night, dad”, Shikadai said and sensed the cigarette smell off his dad. It smelled like night to him. It smelled like home, like dad.

Shikamaru closed the door again and retreated to his own bed.

Shikadai couldn’t sleep that night. All he could think of was the weird and foreign look in his father’s eyes as they stood before the fallen tree trunk. How angry he had become at Shikadai for even joking about looking for antlers on the other side.

Shikamaru had called the forest beyond that tree trunk “forbidden”. He had described the forest as scary. Nothing in their forest could possibly scare them. Naras weren’t afraid of the dark, and certainty not scared of walking in the forest that had been in their possession since the clan had been formed. The deer seemed to be wary around the boarder. The way the biggest stag in the heard, Kyojin, had followed them, was odd.

What could had happened in that part of the forest? Shikadai was certain it was something very bad, bad enough to make his father angry at the very thought of being close. But Shikamaru was always the calm and rational type of person; lazy and unenthusiastic. This was a completely new side of him. Shikadai knew it would be terribly wrong of him to go behind his father’s back and check out what there was to find in that forbidden part, and he felt guilty just thinking about it.

But he was not about to be lied to. He would not accept a false truth. He was his mother’s son, and he would not accept being kept in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may guess what's scaring Shikamaru.


	3. The grave

“How was the desert?” Inojin asked after eyeing, not that concealing, Shikadai’s tan on his face. They sat at the usual table in the hamburger restaurant and had just finished their meals.

“Sandy”, Shikadai answered. “But there was this nice bath house that Shinki and I visited.”

“Did you eat those disgusting scorpions again?”

“Hey, they’re actually pretty tasty”, Shikadai snorted. “Well, they’re not like hamburgers or barbeque, but that doesn’t mean they’re not any good.”

“I just can’t get over the fact that you eat freaking scorpions”, Inojin sighed. Chocho, who was sitting in with them giggled with a hand over her face.

“That is because you’re not used to any food except the ones we eat here, Inojin”, she said, almost accusing. “Did you eat anything else very specific to Wind Country while being there?”

“Well, I tried coffee, but never again”, Shikadai confessed and rubbed his neck, very much like his father does.

“You’re just not peckish enough”, Chocho determined, crossing her arms. She had finished her meal way before the others.

“But you’re always peckish, Chocho!” Shikadai said. “You’re in a totally different league than us, and you know it.”

“Yeah, do you have any different food in Kumo?” Inojin asked, and as if he pressed a button that triggered a whole monologue Chocho started to excitedly explain the cuisine of Kumo in detail. Apparently, the food industry of Kumo was heavily focused on treats, besides actual nourishment. Chocho described her favourite candy, a certain type of lollipop, that she hoards every time she visits Kumo.

“Last time we were in Kumo I bought around fifty of them – “, Chocho said.

“You bought fifty?!” Inojin shouted. “Fifty! My mum would’ve killed me if I brought home that many sweets.”

“Of course she would”, Chocho said jokingly. “Next time we visit I’ll buy enough to share with you two.”

Inojin and Shikadai exchanged glances, knowing well that Chocho would never share anything she cherished that much, especially when it came to food, and certainty when it came to treats. When thinking about it, Shikadai could recon that he’d seen Chocho with a lollipop in her mouth at different occasions before. That was probably the Kumo lollipop. But he had never ever seen her share food.

“Too bad I’ve eaten them all already”, Chocho sighed. “I must ask Omoi to send some more.”

“Omoi? Does your mum have a brother?” Shikadai asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh no! He’s her friend”, Chocho quickly replied. “And he has a never-ending stock of lollipops, so he sends some to me from time to time. I love being spoiled. Do you get spoiled, Shikadai?”

“Me? Sometimes”, Shikadai answered. “Like gifts and stuff from my uncles.”

“Why don’t I have a foreign uncle who gives me candy and gifts?” Inojin sighed with his forehead buried in his hands. “You both travel far and wide all the time, while I haven’t even been outside Fire Country. Unfair!”

The company sitting in the table across the aisle in the hamburger restaurant had started eavesdropping at Team 10’s discussion, and a blond boy strutted over to their table.

“Because why would one want to leave Konoha when everything we need is here?” Boruto asked arrogantly and pushed himself onto the bench beside Shikadai, making a statement with his presence. He smirked at Inojin.

“Well… It would be fun to see the desert or the mountains”, Inojin said carefully, not really knowing what Boruto was after. “Why wouldn’t one want to travel?”

“The only time we need to visit other countries would be during missions”, Boruto said. “What are we, civilians? Shinobi do not travel to visit other villages for fun.”

“Stop being a drag”, Shikadai said, barely keeping his irritation down.

“Yeah, you came just home from Suna, didn’t you?” Boruto asked. “I see that on your skin, y’know.”

“What do you want?” Shikadai asked. “Trying to make me feel bad for visiting my cousin?”

Now the rest of Team 7 came over to their table from their own. Sarada punched Boruto, not so gently, in his shoulder.

“What are you saying, cha?” she asked, doing a poor job of keeping _her_ irritation down. “Visiting other villages for fun, or for family, has nothing to do with loyalty, idiot!”

“I bet you’re just jealous because _your_ family has only ever lived in Konoha”, Chocho said.

“What? I’m _proud_ that my family is from here”, Boruto said, crossing his arms. “It would really be a mess to travel all the time to visit family. Why do that when you can have it all here?”

“Everyone doesn’t have the luxury of having all family in one place”, Shikadai said dryly.

“Speaking of which… do you feel loyalty to Suna?” Boruto switched over to look at Chocho. “Or Kumo?”

Neither of them could give him a straight answer. No one had directly asked neither Shikadai nor Chocho that question, and Boruto’s face was impossible to decipher. His eyes seemed to long for a specific answer, and Shikadai suspected he wanted them both to blurt out a big _NO_.

“Yes…?” Shikadai said slowly.

“I would really want to go for an exchange in Kumo”, Chocho said, totally oblivious to the answer Boruto was fishing for. “And ski! We’ve only visited Kumo in the summer when it’s not too cold, but they have these awesome downhill skiing mountains open in the winter, and basically every genin in Kumo train in the harsh winter conditions there. And the hot chocolate in Kumo is to die for! Imagine, we’re genin – “, she nodded towards Shikadai, “- and chunin and none of us have even tried snow-fighting, which is essential there. And none of us have skid either.”

“You should ask your dad to propose an exchanging programme so genin from all villages could try out all other villages specialities”, Sarada said to Boruto. “I bet the other Kages get turned on by that idea.”

“That was not the point, y’know! Look, I’m really glad you’re enjoying your other villages, but you can only be loyal to one – “, Boruto quickly said.

“Are you afraid our loyalty might change?” Shikadai disrupted. “Don’t worry about us, Boruto. It’s possible to be just as loyal to two places at the same time. The world is getting smaller, you fool. It’s not like when our parents were young, and everyone hated each other. It’s peacetime.”

“I wasn’t worried”, Boruto pouted. “I was just asking, y’know.”

His harsh tone encouraged all of them to change the subject. They continued talking about other matters. Shikadai told them more about the desert and Suna in general, while Chocho proceeded to retell about the lollipops so also Sarada, Boruto and Mitsuki would hear about them. (In truth they all had heard the story before but set up fake smiles and listened with pretend interest).

Shikadai had to leave after a while, to deliver the pulverized antlers to the hospital, where they would be refined and pressed into food pills and medicine. He signed the delivery papers the receptionist offered him and received the payment for the antlers. The two glass bottles he delivered contained all in all six different antlers.

Pulverizing antlers and selling them to hospitals had been a side business for the Naras for a long time, and Shikamaru joked that if the shinobi world was ever to die out they would just switch to more serious breeding of deer and make their living out of their antlers instead.

Not that his family had any shortage of money anyways.

His thoughts wandered into the forbidden parts of their forest. What on earth could there be that made his father so angry?

And very soon after his thoughts, so did his feet.

Instead of just going home, he walked into the forest. There were deer welcoming him into the forest, soon before they scattered to walk their own paths. Shikadai knew where he was heading. He followed the deer path they had taken the last time and soon enough he reached the fallen tree trunk.

He placed his hand on the trunk, still being able to retreat. Whatever it was, it could be dangerous. Like really, really dangerous. He ripped some mouldy bark off the trunk while debating whether he should go any further.

His dad would most likely be very angry. And the most absurd thing was that Shikadai didn’t even know how his father would react when being angry. Shikamaru became almost never angry, only sulky. But if he kept lying, _keeping the truth away from his son_, continuously, then maybe he deserved to see that Shikadai was not to just sit around and accept that there might be something fishy going on in his family's forest.

Shikamaru had become clan head at the age of 17, after the death of his father. There was no telling in when Shikadai would become clan head, and whenever that is, he would know every piece of secret there was about his clan.

Also, what scary monster they were hiding in their forest.

And so Shikadai made the wrong decision and walked past the tree trunk, into the forbidden part of their forest.

After he’d wandered around in what seemed like ages back and forth along deer paths in the forbidden parts, he started to doubt why his dad ever was so angry about the idea of walking here. Was this a trick? A trick to test his obedience, and Shikamaru was in fact hiding in a tree slowly shaking his head? Would he laugh and say: _I knew you couldn’t keep out, my idiot son_ with a smile on his face or would he just look at him with a disappointed face?

Shikadai sat down on a rock sticking out of the ground. This had to be more than a trick. He saw two stags watching him from behind the trees, and the deer never watched over them. Kyojin, the biggest stag of the herd came up to him and gave him an uneasy look. Something was out of place, but he could not put the finger on what it was.

_Look at the ground, _he heard Shikamaru say inside his head. Shikadai lowered his gaze and found that the rock he sat on was very out of place. He jumped down and backed a few steps to investigate the rock, which he now realized was a tombstone.

A tombstone in the Nara forest?

There were no inscriptions on the stone, and after dragging his fingers across the surface he determined that the tombstone had been there for many years.

The ground around the stone was not like the rest of the ground in the forest Shikadai noticed, now that he was actually looking at the ground instead of just seeing it. The soil was uneven, bumpy and rough whereas the forest soil usually was soft and flat after years of deer walking on it.

Shivers went down Shikadai’s spine when he realized that this was a grave. Someone was buried in the Nara forest – _his_ forest – and his dad had tried to hide this fact from him. Who was it? All the Naras were buried in the burial ground in the village, not in a shady part of their own forest.

Shikadai reached for one of his last two paper bombs he still had in storage in his bag after their last practice with Moegi-sensei, ripped the seal and placed it on top of the grave. It detonated and some of the rocks turned into dust and other ones flung around the area. Shikadai placed his final paper bomb in the opening and detonated that one as well.

He didn’t know why he did it. He felt irritation rise inside of him, irritation created by the fact that he’d been lied to. This was shady if anything and he wanted – needed – to know what, or who, was buried there.

After digging for such a long time that his fingers were cold, dirty and stiff he almost gave up when his hand touched something… something human. He had to choke a scream to not give his abhorrence away when he saw toes. Toes!

He jumped out of the grave to get some air. There was someone down there! A real person was buried there. Shikadai sat by the edge of the grave for quite some time, and he realized he didn’t have too much time if he wanted to find the face before the sun set, and he could certainly not return home to look his father in the eyes without knowing who was buried in the forest. The who that was most likely buried by Shikamaru himself.

He let himself fall down the grave again and he scratched the surface around the foot.

“Hello?” a faint voice called from beneath the soil and this time Shikadai couldn’t hold his scream inside.

He jerked the now visible foot, only to find himself holding a _severed _foot in his hands and immediately, he dropped it out of panic. The victim not only seemed to be alive but was in pieces, too.

“Find my head”, the voice said and Shikadai had to get out of the grave and when he was outside, he fell to his knees and vomited. Even if he was a fresh chunin, a ninja, he hadn’t seen that many strange things.

Different kekken genkai, sure, Visual Jutsus, a plenty, weird jutsus, all the time, but holding the foot of a zombie and even more, hearing a buried head talk was too much even for him, and the most absurd thing of all was that this was in his family’s very own forest.

“Hey, get back!”, the voice demanded, now with more force. Shikadai shuddered at the edge of the grave, secretly wanting to run away but no – he was a shinobi and shinobi do not run away when they’re scared.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Find my head and I’ll tell you”, the hoarse voice said. The chunin gave in and after barely keeping himself sane, and after lifting out two legs, one arm and a hip, he found the head. The smell was awful, not entirely the smell of rotting flesh, but rather a metallic rusty smell, like iron and he fought against the urge of throwing up again.

He found some grey, thin hair sticking out of the dirt and he grabbed the hair and pulled. The head started whining that _it hurt, it hurt, fuck, stop pulling so hard _and after Shikadai eventually managed to get the whole skull out of the ground he almost peed on himself out of fear.

He held a whole human head, that was alive, in his hands.

The man’s face was wrinkly and thin, as if all chakra had been sucked out of him. To determine his age was impossible, he could be a hundred years or just twenty at the same time. His mouth was black of what seemed to be dried blood and his skin was pale. He opened slowly his eyes and after fixating on Shikadai his face turned into a grimace of disgust.

“You!” he shouted. “You fucking brat! I’ll eat your fucking face!”

Shikadai dropped the head.

“Ouch! You idiot! Come and fight me, coward”, the head snarled, but it didn’t have the threatening effect now that he was face down in the dirt. “You don’t want to finish what you started, oi?”

“Who are you?” Shikadai cried out. “What the hell are you doing here and how are you even alive?!”

The man paused and tried to get a good look at Shikadai, but eventually failed.

“Lift my head”, he ordered, and Shikadai lifted it so he could see him.

The head looked closely at him and wrinkled the fragile skin on his forehead as the lightbulb in his mind lit.

“You’re not him”, he said slowly. “Shikamaru, wasn’t it? The brat’s name.”

Shikadai felt a shiver slowly go down his spine.

“That’s my dad”, he managed to get out.

“DAD?!” the man spat out with such a force that Shikadai almost dropped his head again. “How many fucking years have gone by? He’s got a kid, and a damn replica of himself too? That little idiot brat, thinking he’s so smart with his shadows.”

“How do you know my father?” Shikadai asked, now more demanding.

“You can’t figure out why I’ve been buried down here by yourself? Seems like that arrogance didn’t get passed onto you”, the head said cockily.

“He buried you”, Shikadai said. “Didn’t he? My dad.”

“Clever boy”, the head said. “Tell me your name and I’ll tell mine.”

Shikadai hesitated. This would be the moment to just drop the whole idea and bury the head again and never return, but he didn’t. He needed to get to the bottom of this. Why was a man chopped in pieces and buried by his own father?

“My name is Shikadai”, he said. “Yours?”

“Hidan”, the head said. “Do you love your father?”

Shikadai stared at Hidan, at the grin on his thin, dying face.

“Yes”, he whispered.

“Your father tried to murder me”, Hidan said slowly. “He buried me in this hole. Think about that, little kid.”

_Your father tried to murder me._

“He is a shinobi”, Shikadai said quickly. “So are you, I presume. It’s a part of our job. Sometimes killing is involved, and you so just happened to be on a list, I guess.”

“You guess? Oh no, kid”, Hidan said, and if his head would’ve been attached to shoulders, he would’ve shaken his head. “He came after me for personal reasons. This was no mission assigned by your Kage or anything. This was his own cold blood looking for victims.”

Shikadai frowned. This didn’t make sense. His dad would never –

“Why?” he demanded. “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s not up to you to decide what’s the truth and what isn’t”, Hidan said, remembering his own teacher saying those exact words when he was a little genin – it had to be thirty-something years now, that so many years had passed.

“What were his reasons?” Shikadai asked, knowing that his dad would never do anything unprompted. There had to be a damn good reason for this.

“We happened to cross paths once”, Hidan told him. “I can’t say we liked each other, but he took it to outrageous dimensions. You see, kid, Shikadai, wasn’t it? I belong to a certain religion and your dad sure as hell didn’t like it. I don’t understand why; I just did what my Lord asked me to. I performed a very sacred ritual, a very private one, that I care greatly for, and Shikamaru… well, he just messed everything up on purpose. A very acrid fella, your dad.”

“He messed up your ritual”, Shikadai parroted. “Why didn’t he like your ritual?”

”Beats me”, Hidan said. ”But one thing is crystal clear; he likes to play god. That Shikamaru brat. Why do you think I ended up in this hole? He pursued me. Not only did he mess up my ritual, but he sought me out again. He bound me in shadows and brought me to this place. He aimed to kill me. Luckily, I don’t die that easily, as you might’ve guessed already, Shikadai. He blew me to pieces. He watched stones falling down on my face, he watched with a straight face me become buried! Your dad is a very evil man, I tell you. And based on the face you’re making right now, I guess you haven’t had a single clue about this. Of fucking course, he wouldn’t tell his own son about his sins.”

Shikadai become more and more cold inside as Hidan’s story unfolded. This would explain Shikamaru’s very weird behaviour when confronted about this forbidden part of their own forest.

If this man was a criminal, and rightfully… murdered? Buried? Punished? then Shikamaru would’ve told him, right? Shikadai was no idiot, he would never ever dig out someone he knew was evil. But this was too fishy, too out-of-character for his dad to be so incredibly protective of this site.

“How are you still alive?” Shikadai asked.

“My beloved God keeps me alive”, Hidan answered. “I survived on chewing rats and worms. You’ve got many rats here.” Hidan shifted his gaze to one of his arms on the ground. “The fact that I’m still alive is a living testimony that I was unrightfully and unjustly murdered and buried. I didn’t deserve this, but I was beaten by your smart old man and his wrath.”

Shikadai knew of the Edo Tensei-jutsu, the one his parents had fought against in the last war, but this man was not a product of that forbidden jutsu. His eyeballs were white and besides the dryness and wrinkles he did not have cracks in his skin.

Dead people should stay dead. And Shikadai could not figure out one single reason how Hidan was still alive, after so many years buried, _in pieces_. Was it true, what Hidan said, that the fact that he still was alive was that he was unrightfully murdered? By Shikadai’s own father.

It had become dark outside. And all of a sudden the bizarreness came rushing to Shikadai all at once, the realization that his father might be a murderer and the fact that a living, suffering man in pieces had laid in their forest for a good amount of years. The weight of a decapitated head in his hands felt like it would imprint in his memory forever.

It became too much for Shikadai. He couldn’t contain his cool anymore. He let the head of Hidan fall between his hands, and he spurted out of the grave. Once out he threw in all the limbs he had picked up, much to Hidan’s rage.

“Get back here, you fucking traitor!”

The screams of the decapitated man fell to deaf ears as Shikadai dashed away, away from the grave, away from the forbidden part of the forest and away from the possibility that his dad had committed a horrible crime.

“Finally”, Shikamaru said when Shikadai came inside. “I almost thought you had been kidnapped already when you weren’t showing up.”

“I was training”, Shikadai quickly said and rushed to the bathroom where he opened the water tap to the fullest and scrubbed his hands violently, to wash the dirt and the touch of the man’s head off his hands. He rubbed the double dose of soap and lathered it thoroughly. He splashed water in his face, to rinse away whatever coldness there still was in his body. He felt incredibly shaken.

He hauled himself out of his dirty clothes and threw them in the dirty laundry bin, before Shikamaru could see them. He dressed himself in a black onesie and let his hair fall loose around his face.

“You okay?” Shikamaru asked from the door opening.

“Yeah”, Shikadai lied. “I’m just really tired.”

“Do you want anything to eat?”

“No thanks”, Shikadai said and forced a smile. Shikamaru smiled back and placed a cigarette between his lips.

“I’ll go out for a moment”, he said. “Good night, Shikadai.”

“Good night.”

Shikadai let himself fall on the bed. He wanted to cry out of confusion. What the fresh hell had just happened? What was it that was buried in their forest? He grabbed the edge of his pillow and squeezed until his knuckles were white.

He felt more betrayed than he ever had before.

He missed Mum. Six – almost five days left until she comes home.

A stray tear found its way down the side of his face and he gritted his teeth.

Everything felt wrong. He felt wrong. And wronged.

The candle flames shuddered at the man’s sudden movements. The chapel was completely devoid of lights, if the eighteen candles, placed in a pentagram shape, around the man didn’t count. He drew a sharp breath, and that was such a surprising sound that the other man at the other end of the chapel woke up from his nap.

“Kihaku”, he said after shaking off the offense that he’d been woken up. “Did you get a message?”

“Yes.”

“From the Lord?”

“Yes.”

The napping man, whose name was Mokoma, rose from his comfortable position and hurried over to Kihaku.

“What did Lord Jashin tell you?” he asked and grabbed Kihaku’s shoulder with force.

“Watch the candles”, Kihaku said calmly. “Lord Jashin has happy new for all of us, Mokoma. One of our priests have been freed from his earthly prison. He’s barely alive, and in desperate need of a sacrifice. Looks like he doesn’t have any limbs attached either.”

“Can you pinpoint his location?” Mokoma could barely keep his excitement. “We need to get him safely back to us.”

“I’ve got a strong sense where he is”, Kihaku said. “Lord Jashin gave me an imagery of a dense forest, some deer and a deep hole. We’ll find him before daybreak.”

“If I may ask, is it Hidan?” Mokoma asked quietly.

“Yes”, Kihaku said and he didn’t invite further discussion. He grabbed the scythe he had placed behind him and lightly touched his amulet around his neck. He had missed Hidan terribly and had allt these years wondered who got him and how. Eighteen years he had wondered what Hidan’s final moments were like.

He had since long accepted that a friend was gone.

Luckily, it turned out he wasn’t gone. He had only been imprisoned in rock and stone, decapitated and chopped up, out of their god’s reach.

Lord Jashin sure works in mysterious ways. If Kihaku ever found out who had dug Hidan up he would thank him or her and pledge a sacrifice to honour this person.

“Shall we?” Mokoma asked and placed his fingers in a sign.

“Let’s get out priest back”, Kihaku said, and they both shunshinned. The ever so slight blast wave from their jutsu extinguished all eighteen candles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always fun to try to figure out how one would react in that situation, heh
> 
> Thank you for the comments and your support! I appreciate it very much!


	4. A man to kill

Shikadai woke up to the sounds of his father’s hustle. He immediately jumped out of bed and opened the door, to see his father aggressively force his leg down his trousers.

“I guess we had intruders tonight”, he greeted Shikadai with teeth clenched together. “The deer are stressed out. I must check the forest.”

Shikadai looked out of the window, to see, to his very dismay, that their yard was filled with deer. Seven big, beautiful does and stags were standing, impatiently waiting for someone to accompany them, on the porch and on the grass.

“How long have they been here?” Shikadai mumbled, mostly to himself, but Shikamaru heard him.

“Well, long enough that they had time to shit over the whole porch”, he said, clearly feeling resentment for not waking up in time. Who knew how long the deer had been there, waiting for their masters to wake up and _notice_ that something was wrong?

Shikamaru felt unease as he tightened the belt keeping his bags with tools around his waist. There had never been this many deer at the same time here, wanting to distribute a message. How on earth didn’t he wake up to the sound seven deer treading around outside their very window?

If Temari was here she would’ve noticed as soon as the first deer walked in. Once, a yearling, a tiny doe had walked in the middle of the night up to their porch, and as soon as she had even breathed in the direction of their window, Temari had flung out of bed, fan in hand. The doe wanted to inform that another deer had fallen into the river and was unable to get up by itself. Shikamaru and Temari had saved the deer in time, because of Temari’s fast reactions. Temari would’ve woken up and fixed the issue immediately. But she wasn’t here now.

Shikamaru’s heart beat faster when he realized that Kyojin, the biggest stag of them all, had a long gash made by a kunai across his side. His fur was darkened with blood.

“You brave thing”, Shikamaru said to him when inspecting the wound. “You tried to protect everyone, didn’t you?”

All of the seven deer had wounds to some extent after trying to keep the intruders out, which made Shikamaru feel even worse for sleeping through their attempts to wake him up. He examined the hind Kurimu when a cold realization washed over him. Her baby fawn was not there. The baby fawn Hachimitsu, that they’d given a name to two days ago, was not with her mother, which meant only one thing.

“Fuck”, he whispered to himself.

The intruders had been merciless.

Shikamaru made a mental note to cover Hachimitsu’s name in the deer breeding journal he kept. He wrote her name in the book two days ago, and now he had to put a horizontal line over her name. But all of this was of minor importance. He had to check what was going on.

“Shikadai, make some breakfast”, she shouted to his son. “Don’t be late for school, okay?”

“Yeah”, Shikadai answered half-heartedly and watched his father’s back as he and the seven deer sprinted into the forest.

His heart had already sunk to the bottom of his stomach, and his palms were drenched in sweat. This couldn’t be a coincidence, this was too good to be a coincidence and he was not naïve enough to actually believe that this attack didn’t have anything to do with the undead man in the grave.

He wished. He truly wished there was another explanation, but he knew. His heart knew he had made a terrible mistake by digging up that man, and even if he still didn’t help Hidan in any way, he had left the grave open. Open for grave robbers.

Shikadai had noticed that the baby fawn was not present with its mother, and that had hurt. Unprompted, he picked down the deer breading journal and flipped to the last page where Shikamaru had with a fine handwriting written down _Hachimitsu – dam: Kurimu. Born in April _and he pressed the ink pen against the paper and drew a thick line over Hachimitsu’s name. _Dead in May _he added.

Apple cream and oats didn’t taste at all, but Shikadai forced the food down his throat, barely managing to keep it down. He felt so horrible inside that he almost forgot to leave for school. He threw one last gaze at the beginning forest and walked away – no, ran away from his home.

“Hey, Inojin”, Shikadai asked, trying his hardest to sound bored and indifferent. “Can I hang out at your place tonight?”

Inojin finished packing his bag and threw it over his shoulder.

“Of course”, he answered. “My mum loves you anyway, so.”

“She does?” Shikadai asked, amused. “What a drag.”

“You want to do anything special?” Inojin asked.

“I don’t know”, Shikadai sighed. “We can… um, maybe… we’ll find something do to.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Inojin didn’t question any further, but he found the weird stuttering of Shikadai… unfamiliar. Like something was not right.

Shikadai spent the evening at the Yamanaka household. He ate dinner with the family, as if he was part of it, played games with Inojin and the boys helped even out at the flower shop for a while. The hours went by and the sun started setting.

“When are you supposed to be home?” Inojin asked. “I’m not kicking you out, or anything, but I’m getting a little bit tired.”

“Just tell me when you want me to leave, and I’ll leave”, Shikadai answered. His voice did, without him trying, invite further discussion and he hated the way he sounded. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on the kneecaps, staring at nothing at all. He felt the shame of what he had done rise, the very shame he had done his hardest to just ignore the whole day. “It’s just… dad and I had a fight. I don’t want to go home.”

Inojin waited patiently for Shikadai to continue, and when he didn’t, he gave him a faint smile.

“A fight? Is it really that bad?”

Shikadai nodded. He was sure to find a very disappointed father when he came home, and he didn’t even know how Shikamaru would react. Would he shout? Would he beat him? Or would he just remain silent and give him that _disappointed look_?

“Can’t you ask your mum to talk to your dad?” Inojin continued, trying to encourage his friend.

“Mum is not home”, Shikadai said. “She stayed in Suna for a longer while.”

“Oh”, Inojin breathed out. “Well… if you’d like, my mum can talk to your dad. You know, all generations of Ino-Shika-Cho help each other out.”

Shikadai couldn’t hold in a laugh.

“Thanks”, he said, and he truly meant it. “It’s a drag, but I think I’ll handle it myself.”

Because if what Hidan said was true, that Shikamaru had murdered him because of something like different opinions of religion, then Shikadai would prefer it all to be a secret. Just like Shikamaru wanted, considering he kept Hidan’s existence hidden for all of Shikadai’s life.

“Are you sure?” Inojin asked, and there was true worry in his voice.

“Of course”, Shikadai said.

“Everything doesn’t have to be a drag; you know?” he continued. “That’s why you have friends. Friends who help out each other, and be there for each other. If you really don’t want to go home, I guess my mum can just tell your dad and you can sleep here.”

“I don’t know…”

“Shikadai –“

“Drop it.”

“Okay.”

Ino just finished reading the book she had read the past few weeks, and after the final line was read her heart was just filled with happiness, because the characters confessed their undying love to each other. She had read four hundred pages of the epic story of two princesses trying to change their kingdom together and it was just so beautifully written that she’d forgot time and space.

Someone opened the front door without knocking and Ino jumped out of the sofa, ready to knock out the intruder when she was greeted with spiky, black hair.

“Shikamaru”, she said. “Hi! Knocking is appreciated, you know.”

Shikamaru _reeked_ of cigarettes, and that itself was a warning red light.

“Is Shikadai here?” Shikamaru asked, and his voice was undoubtedly stressed. Ino gave him a questioning look, but he didn’t even look her in the eyes.

“Yes”, she answered. “He’s been here the whole evening. Is something wrong?”

“No”, Shikamaru said and everything about him screamed _YES_. He was never known to carry his head with dignity to begin with, but he was slouching so badly that someone might as well take him for a sad teenager if they didn’t spot the beard. And he didn’t want to meet her gaze. He took a deep breath and called out: “Shikadai? Come down. We’re heading home.”

He walked inside without even taking off his shoes and waited by the staircase at his son. This behaviour of his was so out of the normal someone might as well flash a red light in Ino’s face. She glared at him, lifted her hands, formed her fingers into a square –

Shikamaru turned around and grabbed her wrist, pressing hard.

“You stay out of my head”, he hissed lowly and Ino looked into his eyes and saw fury. She froze.

“Dad?” Shikadai called from the end of the stairs. Shikamaru turned around to find himself be stared at by his son and Inojin. “What’s going on?”

Shikamaru let Ino’s wrist go, and there was an ever so slightly shift in his face. Not really softer, but not as intimidating as before.

“Shikadai”, he said calmly. “Let’s go home.”

Shikadai ignored Inojin’s gentle touch at his back as he walked down the stairs, slowly, as if he was walking towards his own death. Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder, not gently, but not forcefully either, and Shikadai didn’t jerk out of his touch. He had accepted that his mischiefs – or costly mistake had been found out and he could barely keep his tears at bay.

Shikamaru nodded towards Ino and Shikadai said a fast goodbye to Inojin and then the door was shut behind them.

“Mum”, Inojin said when he was sure the duo was out of hearing distance. “Shikadai told me he had a fight with his dad, and that he didn’t want to go home. But now he’s going home anyways.”

“He didn’t want to go home?” Ino echoed. What? Shikamaru never argued, because he found it too bothersome. What on earth could have launched him into an argument that scared away his child?

“Yeah”, Inojin said. “And his mum is still in Suna. I thought… maybe you could try to talk with Shikamaru. I think Shikadai is really sad over something, but I don’t know what.”

All of a sudden Inojin was pulled into a hug. Ino pressed her nose into her son’s hair and took a deep breath.

“Wonderful little boy”, she whispered into his hair. “Thank you for telling me this. I will find out what’s bothering them both. Because just as Shikadai’s your friend, Shikamaru is mine.”

Shikamaru was silent when they got home. Shikadai sat down, awaiting the tongue lashing of his lifetime, but Shikamaru remained silent. Somehow, that felt even worse.

“You noticed that Hachimitsu was dead”, Shikamaru said to him after a while and pointed towards the deer breeding journal that Shikadai had left open on the table. “Shikadai, I’ve got to ask you, did you walk into the forbidden parts of our forest?”

A whole day of lying and ignoring the problem had gone by. Shikadai had tried to run away from the problems, to ignore them, wishing Hidan’s total existence would magically disappear, and now he had enough. He dug his fingernails into his own knees.

“It was me, dad”, he said, failing to look into his father’s eyes. “I did dig that man up from his grave yesterday.”

Shikamaru clenched his jaw so much it hurt his teeth. He did his uttermost to not shout, to not lose his temper, to not do anything he would regret.

“Why?” he managed to get out.

“He told me you murdered him”, Shikadai said, and looked Shikamaru in the eyes. Shikamarus eyes were covered in something dark. And Shikadai’s were looking persistent as they always did during an argument. “Is that why you told me to keep out of the forest, huh? So I would never find out the truth?”

“He was still alive?”

“Wasn’t he still in the hole? I left him there”, Shikadai asked.

Shikamaru tugged a hand through his hair, messing it up. He brought his hand up to his face, violently massaging his temples.

“Why do you think the deer were hurt?” Shikamaru asked, and before Shikadai even had the time to answer, he made a frustrated growl. “Hidan is not there anymore! He had friends, or whatever associates, who picked him up. Every fucking piece of his body is gone!”

Shikadai winced at the sudden curse word. He had never heard Shikamaru curse before.

“What were you thinking?” he continued, his voice shuddering by anger. Shikadai threw up his hands in a defensive manner.

“I don’t know!” he shouted back. “I was irritated that you had kept away such a secret from me – “

“Irritated?” Shikamaru repeated. “You were ‘irritated’ that I kept a zombie’s whereabouts secret from you?”

“He was alive! What were you expecting, that I’d just put the soil and rocks back on him again?”

“I expected you to listen to your reason and not dig up a grave!”

“Why did you murder Hidan?” Shikadai rose from his seat, moving closer to Shikamaru, challenging him. “This was more than shinobi duty, wasn’t it? This was something about you.”

“You want to know why I blew him to pieces, huh?” Shikamaru said with a freezing voice. “That man is the murderer of Sarutobi Asuma. He murdered my sensei, Mirai’s dad.”

Someone might as well had poured ice cold water over Shikadai. He felt his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach, and he felt _sick._

“What?”

“You’re right, that was more than shinobi duty”, Shikamaru admitted. “That was my vengeance, and a damn personal one, too. Hidan was to be killed, and I volunteered. I chose to disarm him and bury him in our forest. To avenge Asuma.”

“But… how is he alive?” Shikadai asked.

“He’s immortal”, Shikamaru said. “I believed he would starve to death in his grave, but clearly not.”

“He told me he ate rats”, Shikadai said and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. There was a haunting pause.

“How much did you talk?”

“Not that much!” Shikadai said defensively. “He told me about you, how you killed him – “

“Shikadai! Critical thinking, damn it! What bad can happen after digging up an undead corpse? You just don’t do that without examining the possible consequences. You need to think seven steps ahead, or a hundred, I don’t care, but you must think of the consequences!”

When Shikadai didn’t answer him Shikamaru sighed deeply.

“Critical thinking, lesson number two. I don’t know what lies Hidan told you, but you can’t just blindly believe what said corpse tells you”, Shikamaru continued. “I can’t believe you were so stupid.”

“Hey!” Shikadai burst out, irrationally angry. “How could I know you buried a criminal, when you haven’t told me shit about this? I followed my guts, and I didn’t even help the guy, I left him there. How could I know someone would ravage our forest and the grave?”

“Do not try to put the blame on me, Nara Shikadai”, Shikamaru said, with a voice cold as ice and hard as steel. “And do not shift the blame from yourself, because the only one to blame here is you. Your actions killed Kurimu’s baby fawn and hurt the deer. Your actions let a murderer loose. Yours. Not mine.”

He let the words sink into his son. Shikadai stared at him as tears rose in his eyes and Shikamaru didn’t acknowledge Shikadai’s remorse. Shikadai dropped his gaze to the floor, and he buried his face in his hands. Shikamaru knew Shikadai held his breath to avoid loud sobbing, but he didn’t do anything. He just studied his child.

Shikadai sat himself down on the floor, still with a covered face. He sobbed into his hands and Shikamaru knew he was crying. After a while Shikadai looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry”, he said, and his voice cracked.

And in that instant Shikamaru saw himself in Shikadai. He saw himself cry his heart out after his first failed mission, the mission that almost costed his friends’ lives, and he also knew that Shikadai saw him as he once saw his own father scold him for chickening out. He was now the terrifying, emotionless parent with no empathy whatsoever.

Shikamaru didn’t in all honesty want to show empathy. He wanted Shikadai to realize that what he had done was a crime. Asuma’s death had been one of the most sensitive and horrible moments in Shikamaru’s life, and he’d focused all his anger into the revenge. It took him years to not tear up when talking about Asuma, and one of the things that had calmed him, besides smoking, was the knowledge that Hidan was buried.

Until now.

Hidan was alive, and fetched by grave robbers, probably some cultists. Shikamaru knew he would come back to haunt him. To revenge him.

“A sorry doesn’t solve anything”, he said coldly, keeping that empathy Shikadai hungered for away from him. “I almost died when enchaining Hidan to his grave, and then my child sets him free, because he was ‘irritated’ that I kept silent about this ordeal.”

“Shut up!” Shikadai shouted. “I know I messed up, okay? Dad, I’m sorry!”

Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his tearful and anguished son, without feeling empathy for him.

“Get out of my sight”, he said.

Those words pierced Shikadai’s chest like arrows, and he hurled himself up and run to his room. Shikamaru picked up the thirteenth cigarette for the day and left.

Shikamaru sat by Asuma’s grave and smoked his fifth cigarette for the day. Or, for the morning. It was barely nine in the morning, but Shikamaru had been awake since before dawn. For the first time in his life had he been awake that early, unable to fall asleep again. The lights had been on in Shikadai’s room too, telling him that he wasn’t the only one unable to sleep. But he didn’t talk to Shikadai before leaving. He hadn’t even alert Shikadai that he was leaving. He just left him.

Some time had passed since his last visit at the grave, but Kurenai made sure there were always fresh flowers by his gravestone, and today was no exception.

How on earth was he going to tell her and Mirai about what had happened? He failed them both, big time. He took an extra deep breath and finished the smoke. He smeared the cigarette butt against the stone. How would he tell Ino and Choji? Or Naruto? _Sorry everyone, my idiot son fucking dug Hidan up and now he’s gone and has probably found someone to stich him back together. He’s probably going to revenge me, or you, or anyone. _

He just wanted to forget that the Akatsuki ever existed.

Shikamaru was thinking. Figuring out how to pursue the immortal man and beat him again, without having to bury him. How does one kill an immortal man? He tried the bury-part last time, and it backfired badly.

One thing was sure. This was his business alone. He wasn’t going to tell Ino, or Choji, or Kurenai, and certainty not Mirai. Shikadai found this out, and now Shikamaru suffered the consequences, and he wasn’t going to have any of his friends or family to risk their lives for his and his idiot son’s mistakes.

He missed Temari. Four days left.

But she couldn’t know either, which meant Shikamaru had four days of finding and killing Hidan. He rested his chin in his hand and dreamt away to a time when his sensei was still alive.

_Forty-five minutes_, Ino counted. Shikamaru had sat for that long at Asuma’s grave, smoking and grieving. He hadn’t grieved that visibly almost a decade. Ino tapped her finger against her cheek, thinking. Had Shikadai said something about Asuma, or Mirai, that had made Shikamaru upset?

Shikamaru had once told her that he will tell the story about Asuma and Hidan once Shikadai had had his first mission with killing involved. He had planned to discuss the matter of taking another person’s life with anecdotes from his own life with Shikadai, a real father-son discussion, once Shikadai had taken that step.

Had Shikadai accidentally killed someone and Shikamaru had been forced to confront him about it? That would explain the weird behaviour.

Shikamaru raised from his cross-legged seat and walked out of the graveyard. Ino pushed herself closer to the tree trunk, into the leaves, but Shikamaru didn’t look up. He clearly wasn’t expecting being stalked or was too concerned to even care. Maybe he wouldn’t even had minded having Ino visiting his head, and as soon he walked out of eyeshot Ino regretted not using Mind Possession at him. She had been a little frightened by him yesterday, after all, and she blamed that.

Little did Ino know what thoughts were clouding Shikamaru’s mind.

He had a man to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, the show is just about to start.


	5. Please forgive me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attack, somewhat self harm

Shikadai skipped school the following day. He just didn’t have the strength to pretend everything was okay when he was _sick out of his mind_ and he did certainly not want to admit what he’d done, to Inojin, to Moegi-sensei, or anyone. Rumours spread too quickly.

He stayed in bed, listening to the drips of rain outside. He had heard when Shikamaru had left the house the same morning, without greeting Shikadai. He was probably furious, planning to disinherit Shikadai and pondering a suitable punishment. Shikadai preferred not to see him and was secretly relieved he had left.

He rose from his bed after lying for hours awake in it and found that Shikamaru had left breakfast for him. He tried to eat but couldn’t get anything down. His stomach was growling out of hunger, but after just one bite he threw up bile and gave up, putting everything back in the fridge.

He hadn’t almost slept at all, all he had thought about was how stupid and naïve he had been, and how much he regretted what he’d done. His fingers itched and he just couldn’t find peace. Trying to distract himself with shogi made him frustrated and just looking out of the window to see the forest made him incredibly angry.

At last, the knot in his stomach was unbearable, and he just had to get _away_.

He looked down on the red flowers on the balcony. Were they poppies? He should know his flowers, because Inojin had rambled hours to end about what different kinds of flowers this family had in their flower shop and what different colours meant. Red meant love, white meant sympathy and yellow meant happiness. Or Shikadai couldn’t remember, because he hadn’t been listening properly, only been observing Inojin’s excited face when talking about the flowers.

He was already soaking wet from the freezing rain, but he couldn’t bring himself to jump down on the balcony and knock on the door. His hair had lost its spiky shape and hung pathetically in its ponytail and he let it lose. Maybe it could help covering his shame?

The balcony door opened and Mirai stepped out. Shikadai’s heart jumped up in his throat. Judging by Mirai’s free time clothes, she wasn’t on active duty. Somehow that made all of this a thousand times worse. Shikadai was to confront her as her little brother, not as a shinobi passing sad news.

Mirai’s business to the balcony was simple, she only wanted to bring in some clothes she had forgotten on the balcony away in from the rain. Shikadai shifted his position by a few centimetres at the most, but the sound was loud enough for a jonin-to-be to notice. Mirai’s head shot up and her eyes turned wide at the sight of Shikadai.

“Shikadai!” she called out. “Why aren’t you in school?”

Typical, the first thing that comes to her mind is whether or not he’s in school. He gave her a sad smile.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Shikadai hesitated. This whole idea was stupid, and absurd. Mostly absurd. He jumped down onto the balcony. “You’re drenched. How long have you been out there? Get inside.”

They went inside and Mirai tossed a towel at him.

“Mum! Shikadai was on the roof, I let him in. I think… I think something’s wrong”, Mirai called out and Kurenai hurried into the living room.

_Oh great, Kurenai is also at home_, Shikadai though bitterly and hid his face in the towel, pretending to meticulously dry his hairline.

“Shikadai”, Kurenai said. “Are you okay?”

Her genuinely worried voice was too much to handle. He had let the murderer of her husband loose, and there she was, blissfully unaware. She even sounded worried; she gave him _empathy_. Shikadai felt the tears rise and escape his waterline. He just couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Shikadai shook his head, still face down in the towel.

“Do you want some tea?” Kurenai said, with a mother’s love.

Shikadai nodded, and _oh god, where was Mum when he needed her_? Three days left. Without controlling himself he sobbed into the towel, and he could only guess what kinds of worried gazes Mirai and Kurenai shared. He heard the kettle being placed on the stove and felt Mirai’s arm around his neck. He sobbed even harder.

“You can tell me what’s wrong”, Mirai quietly said, and he pulled away. The duo waited patiently for the tea to be ready, and after Kurenai fetched the mugs and placed the tea on the table she put her hand on Shikadai’s knee, and carefully pulled the towel down from his face.

“If you don’t tell us what’s wrong, we can’t help you”, she said gently. Shikadai looked up, tears once again escaping his red, irritated eyes, and Kurenai paled a bit at the sight. “We want to help.”

Shikadai took a shuddering breath, choking a sob.

“I’m so sorry”, he said.

“What are you sorry for?” Mirai asked.

“I’m a fucking idiot. A fucking worthless piece of –”, Shikadai blurted out.

“Shikadai!” Kurenai interrupted. “Don’t call yourself that. Please. Start at the beginning.”

Shikadai gave them both a pained look. His heart throbbed in his chest and the anxiety he felt was off the charts.

“You know how Asuma died”, he started and held the teacup in his hands. The warmth of the drink burned through the porcelain, but he didn’t care and only embraced the pain in his palms. “He was murdered by a man called Hidan, right?”

“Yes…?” Kurenai said.

“And Hidan was immortal, wasn’t he? He… they… they couldn’t just kill him like that”, Shikadai said slowly and pressed his hands into the cup to increase the burning sensation. “And my dad, Shikamaru, wanted revenge on him and he blew him up and buried him.”

“So, you got to hear the story”, Mirai said. “Are you upset that your dad didn’t tell you?”

_If it only was so simple. _

Mirai noticed what Shikadai did with the cup, and took it off his hands, that were starting to turn red from a beginning burn.

“It’s not that”, Shikadai sighed. “Did you know Hidan was buried in our forest?”

“Shikamaru never told anyone where the grave is”, Kurenai told him, slowly, with suspicion in her voice.

“Well, I found the grave”, Shikadai said, and the words hurt on his tongue. “And I dug him up.”

“You did _what_?” Mirai exclaimed.

“I’m sorry”, Shikadai quickly said.

“Wait a minute”, Kurenai said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. So, you dug him up. There should be no worry if you dig a new grave and bury him again. He’s useless without attached limbs.”

“That’s the issue”, Shikadai whispered, and he failed to look them in the eyes. He felt the shame creep up to him and he was tempted to cry again. “Someone… found him. And rescued him. The whole body is gone. And… I don’t know. Hidan is free. And it’s my fault, because I was so fucking stupid!” A tear found its way down his cheek and he pressed the towel to his face. “I’m so sorry, so sorry, so sorry!” he shouted into the towel.

No one said a word. The silence was deafening to Shikadai, and he just couldn’t stand it.

“Please forgive me”, Shikadai begged, barely audible. “My dad hates me, and I don’t know where to go. Mum is not at home. Please.”

Mirai yanked the towel off Shikadai’s hands.

“You moron!” she roared, and Shikadai’s heart shattered.

“Mirai!” Kurenai said, but Mirai jumped back and thrusted the towel onto the floor.

“How could you? My dad gave his life to stop that man! I grew up without a dad because of him”, she snarled, and there were tears in her eyes. “I grew up with stories of Asuma, of his bravery and the Will of Fire, and why we protect the King, and if Shikamaru wasn’t cruel enough to bury Hidan, you would not even have been _born! _How could you?”

Shikadai didn’t dare to answer. He stared at his hands. Telling them was a mistake, after all. He shouldn’t have come here.

“Mirai”, Kurenai said. “Please, calm down. Can’t you see that Shikadai came here to get help from us?”

“He wants forgiveness!” Mirai hissed and turned to Shikadai. “I hate you.”

Shikadai dropped his head to his knees and hugged his legs. This couldn’t be true. He felt the panic rise in his body. This is just not happening. It’s not _HAPPENING –_

“Take that back”, Kurenai demanded. “You know you don’t mean it.”

“He let my dad’s murderer loose”, Mirai exclaimed. “He let your husband’s murderer loose, mum! How can you not be upset?”

“He came to us in need of help”, Kurenai said with blazing red eyes. “He came to us because he trusted us. We’re the ones he hurt the most, and yet, he confronted us and asked for forgiveness. Think about it, Mirai, the amount of courage that takes.”

“I don’t care”, she said.

Shikadai found it harder and harder to keep a steady breath as his heart thundered at too fast a pace in his chest. He became insanely hot, and when he opened his eyes the world was spinning around him. Suddenly, he felt the need to get out, because he couldn’t even breath, he was dying, this is what dying feels like –

“I’m leaving”, Shikadai managed to get out between sharp inhales, and he jumped up, but his feet weren’t carrying him. Kurenai grabbed his weak hand and he shouted: “Don’t touch me! I can’t breathe!”

Kurenai let his hand go, but before he even could take one more step, she put her hands together into a sign and Shikadai froze in place. His gaze faded into nothingness.

“There, there”, Kurenai said and walked up to Shikadai, who had stopped hyperventilating on demand. She put her hand on his forehead, like checking for a fever. After that, she put her hands around him and lifted him up, letting his cheek rest against her collarbone. He hadn’t reached his growth spurt yet, and he wasn’t particularly heavy either.

“Is he under a genjutsu?” Mirai asked.

“Yes”, Kurenai confirmed, and carried Shikadai with ease to the sofa, gently letting him slide onto its surface amongst cushions and blankets. She met Mirai’s worried eyes and smiled at her. “Don’t worry. It’s a pleasant genjutsu. He’s currently reliving his best childhood memories.”

They both looked at him in silence.

“I’m going to look for Shikamaru”, Kurenai said after a while. “He ought to know where his son is, and he must know we have his back. You should stay and look after Shikadai. Release the genjutsu when you feel you’re ready.”

“When _I’m _ready?” Mirai retorted.

“When he wakes up, you must be kind to him”, Kurenai said sternly. “He’s under emotional stress right now, and when people are under emotional stress… well… we must be kind to them. Taunting someone who just went through what he did may be dangerous for them.”

“What happened even to him?”

“Just be kind to him”, Kurenai said. “Don’t remind him of what he did. And that demands courage from your part. So, calm down and collect yourself before waking him up. Do not let him leave this apartment.”

In a cloud of smoke Kurenai disappeared, leaving Mirai alone with Shikadai. She sat by him, and carefully lifted his head onto her lap. Upon further observation she noticed how red and swollen he was around the eyes, and she guessed he had cried a lot. He probably hadn’t slept at all during the night.

She put two fingers against his forehead.

“Release”, she said and Shikadai blinked. She half expected him to try to get away from her and yell at her, but he didn’t. He just pressed his hand against her thigh. “Shikadai… I’m sorry for what I said. I don’t hate you. I would never hate you, ever. You’re my brother by choice.”

Shikadai exhaled slowly and tightened his grip. He felt exhausted, not only from the genjutsu or the sleepless night, but from how hard it was to contain feelings and then letting them out.

“I’m sorry”, he repeated and turned his face down, hiding it again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry – “

“Shhh”, Mirai whispered, letting her fingers run through his damp hair. “Don’t think about it now. We’ll fix all of this. We’ll fix this, trust me.”

There was a long silence, and Mirai waited patiently.

“They were nice”, Shikadai said slowly. “The dreams. Was it a genjutsu?”

Mirai nodded.

“I was wondering if you could – “

“No, Shikadai”, Mirai said gently. “I won’t put you through another genjutsu. It’s ill-advised to run from reality into nice genjutsus. People turn insane by doing so. If you want to dream, why don’t you try sleeping?”

Another long silence.

“Mirai”, he said.

“Yes?”

“It’s nice. The thing you do in my hair.”

“Oh this? I’m just playing around”, Mirai said, massaging his scalp.

“Mirai?”

“Hm?”

“I wish none of this happened”, Shikadai whispered.

“Don’t think about it now. Try sleeping. You seem really exhausted.”

“Yeah”, Shikadai said. “I am really tired.”

Shikadai closed his eyes, snuggling closer to Mirai. She smiled at him when she felt how his body went relaxed, which was an enormous difference from the stiff, shaking body she had sat beside earlier. With an ease only a Nara possessed Shikadai drifted into sleep, and Mirai let him sleep with his head still in her lap.

A small _poof_ and a cloud of smoke later Kurenai emerged out of thin air. She exhaled out of relief when she saw Shikadai sleeping.

“He has calmed down”, Mirai explained and finished the braid she’d done in his hair. “I don’t think he’s slept a lot, so I let him sleep.”

“Good”, Kurenai said and put a bag down on the floor. Mirai looked at the Nara symbol worked into the fabric of the bag. “Shikamaru wasn’t at work”, Kurenai continued. “I went to their house and he wasn’t there either, so I guess he’s out for intel searching. Everyone seem to be a little upset about this; Naruto was all stressed out because Shikamaru wasn’t in the office. He doesn’t know, as far as I’m concerned. I also ran into Shikadai’s team, and I told them he was here, and safe.”

Kurenai took a deep breath.

“Moegi told me they had been really worried”, she said quietly. “Inojin convinced them all to visit Shikadai’s house when Shikadai hadn’t shown up, and when they found the house empty, he had freaked out. He does apparently know something’s wrong but doesn’t know what. I told them Shikadai was safe at our house, but I didn’t tell them any details. I want to talk to Shikamaru first.”

Mirai nodded.

“He’s a sweet boy, that Inojin”, she said. “A good friend.”

“He sure is”, Kurenai said. “I took some spare clothes to Shikadai while being at their house. His are still damp from the rain, aren’t they?” She tossed the bag at Mirai’s feet. “I left a note to Shikamaru, telling him he’s here when he returns home. We’ll let Shikadai stay here until he comes.”

“What about Hidan? Aren’t we going to pursue him?” Mirai asked. “I’m ready to face him.”

“We wait until Shikamaru finds the note, and come to us”, Kurenai said. “We will not face him unprepared, and Shikamaru is the only one of us who’s faced him before. I’ve heard the story a thousand times, but we need him. We’ll hunt Hidan, all four of us, as soon as Shikamaru comes.”

“All four of us?”

“Shikadai will come with us”, Kurenai said. “The best way to repay one’s sins is to help cleaning up the mess.”

Mirai rose carefully from the sofa, replacing her lap with a pillow under Shikadai’s head. She lowered her voice.

“Do you think he’ll get punished?” she asked. “Like… something more than just Shikamaru and Temari grounding him or something.”

“If Hidan poses a threat, or worse, succeed in hurting or killing one of us, then yes”, Kurenai said slowly. “But that’s up to the Seventh. Let’s not think about such things, Mirai. Let’s make some dinner, I’m sure Shikadai will be very hungry when he wakes up.”

Shikamaru read the note, written in the neat handwriting of Kurenai.

“So, he told them, huh?” Shikamaru said to himself. “Fuck.”

Mirai and Kurenai, of all people he didn’t want to know. The ones he failed the most, the ones he hurt the most, the ones he wanted to live in blissful ignorance.

He sat by the dinner table alone, eating cold rice, reading the note over and over again. Kurenai begged Shikamaru to come to them and talk to Shikadai so they could all fight Hidan. She wanted them all to face Hidan. The very thought of it made Shikamaru’s blood boil. Like hell was he going to put Mirai and Shikadai in such danger.

This was his fight, and his alone. He once failed Asuma, failed to help in time, failed to protect, failed to save and even if he got his revenge on Hidan nothing changed the fact that Asuma was, and remained dead. Yes, he was reanimated in the war, but still dead.

He had a plan in his head already, a plan that didn’t involve his son, or daughter, or her mother. And he was going to stick to that plan. And if Plan A worked, then he would be able to forgive his son, and if Plan A failed and he had to do Plan B… well, he’d rather believe that the first plan would work out.

He teared a paper sheet out of a notebook and inked down a message, in case someone intruded his house again. He regretted his words, threw the note in the trash bin, teared a new sheet, and wrote a different message to leave on the table.

He changed into his old chunin west, a piece of clothing he had abandoned as he grew older. It still fit him, though a bit tighter around the waist. But it didn’t matter. He wanted Hidan to recognize him immediately, to see that the teenager once hurt and vengeful had now grown into a man, ready to bring Hidan down to hell.

He filled his bags with more kunai and shuriken, put knives up his sleeves, and summoning scrolls in the front pockets, and left the house.

Pale blue eyes read the note left on the dinner table of the Nara household, and a shaking hand reached up the mouth.

_Temari_

_If you come home and can’t find me anywhere, I’m sorry. Shikadai is, if I can predict the future right, at Kurenai’s, most likely safe. Shikadai can tell you himself what he’s done, but maybe word has already reached you. If you read this, I most likely failed to fix it. I’m so sorry. I love you, Temari. _

“Shit”, Ino whispered to herself after reading the note five times. She had to sit down and rub her temples. “What were you thinking, Shikamaru? Teamwork, for fucks’ sake!”

Clearly, he was not interested in sharing his burden, and there was only one thing Ino could figure out making Shikamaru shun teamwork so badly that he’d rather go alone on a suicide mission than asking for help. The way he avoided eye contact and scared Shikadai. The way he mourned by Asuma’s grave. The way he reeked of smoke and cigarettes.

Shikadai had probably found Hidan’s body and let him go.

That would explain everything.

Ino jumped up, creasing the note in her closed hand. Temari was not about to return home, to find that suicide note and Shikamaru was not about to face Hidan alone, whatever his skew mind told him.

She linked her fingers into a sign, activating a jutsu, and _searched_. Out of all the minds she had worked with was she the most familiar with Nara Shikamaru, and it didn’t take her many minutes to find him.

"I got you", she said to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the scene between Shikadai, Mirai and Kurenai was my favourite scene to write in the whole story! Let me know what you think, was it your favourite as well, or did you find some other scene from before better? Hopefully I did the scene justice.
> 
> (And yes, the whole story is already finished, I publish the chapters when they've been edited, around every other day).
> 
> The soundtrack I've been listening to while writing this particular bit is "I Was Just Trying To Be Brave" from The Lion King, and I think that that music goes perfectly well together with what Shikadai's going through at the moment.


	6. Let's kill this motherfucker

“No jumping, Damaru!” Kiba shouted at the bigger wolfdog that greeted Shikamaru with rough strength. Shikamaru crouched down, letting a big, slimy tongue lick his cheek. The smaller red dog Akemaru bounced around them with excitement, trying to nibble Shikamaru’s hand as he reached to pet him. The wolfdog, jealous of the attention Akemaru got, pushed Shikamaru, eager for attention, and Shikamaru almost lost his balance.

“You got a new dog?” Shikamaru asked, scratching Damaru behind its ear.

“No pushing!” Kiba growled and grabbed Damaru by his collar. “Get here. It’s my niece Juhi’s. I’m just trying to teach this bastard some goddamn manners.”

He eyed Shikamaru with mild curiosity. Shikamaru had never come to him for advice before, and that was not the oddest, it was his old chunin west that he hadn’t worn for years. The smell of cigarettes was so strong Kiba had to fight the urge to wrinkle his nose at Shikamaru.

“So”, Kiba started. “What’s your deal?”

“I want you to track someone”, Shikamau said simply.

“Okay?” Kiba said, feeling suspicious. Why did Shikamaru come to him, to his home, and not summon him at the Hokage’s building? “Do I need to fill in some mission papers, or what?”

“You don’t have to fill in anything”, Shikamau said, and he stepped closer to Kiba, somewhat threatening. “This mission is off the books.”

Kiba raised his eyebrows.

“No official mission?” he asked. “Why?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get paid as if this was any other mission”, Shikamaru said quickly.

“But if this is no official mission, how’s the treasury going to – “

“I’ll pay you out of my own damn pocket, Kiba, just do it!” Shikamaru snapped. Kiba backed a step, as did Damaru, the wolfdog.

“It better be a goddamn good wage, if you’re being so stressed out about this”, Kiba said. “So, do you have anything with this guy’s smell on?”

Shikamaru reached for the summoning scroll in his front pocket. The summoning scroll contained the result and product of his intel gathering earlier that day, when he had charged to every inn within reasonable distance from Konoha, asking if they had seen a man matching his description. The lady at the counter of the fifth inn he visited had grown paler as Shikamaru spoke and he knew she knew.

So, he had had two options, to scare her enough to tell the truth, or to bribe her. He chose the latter.

“Two strange men with a big suitcase came in yesterday”, the lady had said with a lowered voice. “They left this morning, but this time there were three of them. I don’t know where the third man came from. And oh, they all had those scary scythe weapons you described. Luckily, they paid well, otherwise I’d not let them stay.”

“Have you cleaned the room they stayed at yet?” Shikamaru had asked, and the lady had shaken her head. He smashed another coin on the counter. “Good. I’m going to check the room out.”

He had examined the room and found two very messy beds. More than one of the wooden floorboards had fresh burns in them.

“Fire, huh?” Shikamaru whispered. “Most likely some ritual to collect Hidan’s body together.”

He had opened one of his storage scrolls and made the signs after yanking off the bed sheet of one of the beds. The sheet was folded neatly and stored into smoke in the scroll.

Shikamaru opened the storage scroll in front of Kiba and summoned the bed sheet. Kiba gave him a strange, questioning look and smelled the sheet and _coughed._

“What the fuck, Shikamaru”, he exclaimed and pressed the back of his hand against his nose. “Are we tracking a rotting corpse or what? God, that smell, you could’ve warned me.”

“A rotting corpse is not too far from the truth”, Shikamaru said bitterly, and stored the sheet away.

“Come on, tell me what’s going on”, Kiba insisted. “You realize how messed up this seems? What am I going to tell Tamaki? ‘Hey, I’m going on an unofficial mission with Shikamaru to find a corpse’ – you know what, I haven’t smelled this stench since the war with all the reanimated people. This smells pretty close to what they stank of.”

“I’ll tell you when we are on our way”, Shikamaru said.

“How – how long is this mission going to take? Do I need to pack a sleeping bag and stuff?”

“No”, Shikamaru answered. “Your mission is only to find this man, and get me to him, and after you’ve dropped me you leave.”

Kiba narrowed his eyes.

“You’re feeling the need to protect everyone all by yourself from something again, aren’t you?”

“It’s not a need, it’s duty!” Shikamaru sputtered.

“Then why don’t you want Naruto to know of this?”

“Kiba, last chance, or I’ll find this man myself”, Shikamaru snarled at him, and Kiba crossed his arms over his chest. The wolfdog growled lowly, and Shikamaru wondered if he crossed some line.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go with you”, Kiba said. “Haven’t had any fun missions lately, and this seem to be interesting. One condition, though, genius ninja, you won’t get to choose when and if I retreat. If I find the fight interesting, I won’t let you get all glory yourself for it.”

“Fine”, Shikamaru sighed. “But don’t expect glory, no one will ever know about this.”

“Well, you will”, Kiba said with carefreeness. “I’ll bring some stuff and tell Tamaki I’ll be away.” He put a hand on the wolfdog and they both walked into the house.

Shikamaru sat down on the low brick wall separating Kiba’s yard from the road and lit a new cigarette. Him cooperating with Kiba was nothing he suspected would ever happen, but then again, life happens, and life is never predicable. He used to be friends with Kiba when they were kids, but as they grew into adults and found new jobs and family they grew apart, and Shikamaru couldn’t honestly remember when they actually talked last time. They had been at some drinking nights out with the whole boy squad of Konoha 11, but their interactions had been nothing more than casual small talk and drunk blabbering.

He lifted his gaze and found himself being judgementally stared at by two black and grey cats.

“Sorry”, he lamely excused and threw the cigarette butt on the ground.

“Disgusting”, one of the cats said and Shikamaru blinked twice before remembering that Tamaki’s nin-cats could talk. At the same moments Kiba came out of the house with Akemaru, his younger ninken, tucked into his jacket like Akamaru used to be back in the days when they were kids. Talk about nostalgia. Shikamaru just hoped he had grown some senses since the days Akamaru was that size.

“You’re taking him with you?” Shikamaru asked with doubt before stopping himself, mentally slapping himself, because how stupid was it of him to ask _of an Inuzuka_ if they were taking their fighting partner with them.

“Yeah?” Kiba answered with a raised eyebrow. Shikamaru registered an old, white dog walking out of the house and to save the situation he blurted:

“Is Akamaru coming too?”

Kiba turned around and patted at his old partner’s head.

“I told you to stay with Tamaki”, he said gently to the old dog. “She might need help with something, that’s why you’re needed here.” Akamaru waggled his tail and went inside again. Kiba turned to Shikamaru and scratched the small, red dog behind its ear. “You sounded really doubting when asking if Akemaru is tagging along, and – “

“Yeah, sorry for that, I didn’t mean to insult you”, Shikamaru excused.

“It’s fine”, Kiba said. “Akemaru’s training is not yet finished, so he comes with us to gain some experience. I won’t fight this corpse, or whatever we’re looking for, with him alone. No offence to your shadows, though, but I have someone else.”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, half expecting a new wolf or dog to emerge from the house, but no one came.

“Who?”

“Let’s get a bit away from the house – the cats hate her”, Kiba said, and they walked down the road into the forest. When they were out of sight from the road, he bit his finger and placed his bloody palm on the ground. Chains of black ink surrounded his hand. “Summoning jutsu!”

Shikamaru drew a step back and choked a gasp, because in front of him a gigantic white wolf had been summoned. The wolf bore the same red inverted triangles – or fangs – that the Inuzuka clan tattooed onto their cheeks, and its yellow eyes were flaming.

“Greet the queen of wolves, Mononoke”, Kiba said. “This is Shikamaru, and we’ll be traveling with him.”

Mononoke, the queen of wolves, examined Shikamaru, and drew her upper lip up, exposing a row of razor-sharp teeth.

“You stink”, she growled.

“I know, I don’t like it either”, Kiba said casually and, behind Mononoke, did the smoking gesture with his hand, to wordlessly illuminate to Shikamaru what the wolf queen meant.

“I’m aware of it, and I’m sorry”, Shikamaru said politely.

Mononoke turned around and looked at Kiba, who shrugged his shoulders.

“Get on me”, she said and turned her back to them.

“Are we going to ride her?” Shikamaru exclaimed and was greeted with growls, from both the wolf, the dog and the human.

“Remember now that you’re in the presence of royalty”, Kiba muttered, and swiftly jumped up on the wolf’s back. “So, you better watch your tongue.”

Shikamaru stared at the wolf queen. She was huge, as big as a horse, and to be frank, Shikamaru was a bit scared of her. He had never ridden a wolf before, not even a horse, because riding was a civilian thing. He was a shinobi, for god’s sake, and shinobi do not ride. Inuzukas was of the very few ninjas who actually did it.

“Are you scared?” Mononoke asked impatiently. “You found a weakling to work with, Kiba.”

“What a drag”, Shikamaru sighed and jumped up on the wolf’s back, behind Kiba. The backbone of Mononoke cut into his butt and he found it hard to find a comfortable position. “Now, where does the smell lead you to?”

“North”, Kiba said, and Mononoke planted her hind paws into the ground and darted forward. It took all of Shikamaru’s willpower to not let out a little scream of chock at the sudden start of the ride, but he got to admit that the wolf was very fast, faster than he could ever run.

In just less than a day they got almost two hundred kilometres before Mononoke stopped. She gave them a wolfish smile when they slid of her back.

“That’s enough for now”, she said. “I’m going to retreat and rest for a while. Summon me back when you need me, Kiba. You’re almost there, but not yet.”

_Poof_. Mononoke was gone.

“Are we close to them?” Shikamaru asked, massaging his butt cheeks because _oh my god_ they hurt after so many hours of riding a skinny wolf.

“Barely fifty kilometres or so”, Kiba said. “There are three of them, all of them smell disgusting. Blood and rotting corpse. They have not moved for a while, so I guess they’ve stopped for the night, which means it’s not reanimates we’re facing. We should rest too. Good thing I backed both food and the sleeping bag.”

Kiba lit a fire in silence and Shikamaru walked into the forest to smoke the final cigarette of the box. Luckily he had one unopened box in his pocket.

“Are you addicted now?” Kiba asked without looking at him when he came back. Shikamaru didn’t answer him, didn’t have the energy to give such an obvious answer. He fidgeted with Asuma’s lighter and let Kiba do whatever he wanted with that information. Kiba continued with a light voice. “It’s Hidan we’re tracking, right?”

Shikamaru snapped the lighter shut and stared at Kiba.

“How – how did you know?”

“I guessed”, Kiba said. “You’re acting so weird. I know the story, of the immortal man, and I know it was you who finished him off. That’s why the sheet smelled like corpse, because he was buried for years, right? How did he escape the grave?”

Shikamaru rested his forehead in his palm, staring into the fire for a long time, weighting the options, if he should expose Shikadai or not.

“Shikadai did it”, he finally said quietly.

“I’m not surprised”, Kiba chuckled. “Sound like something I would’ve done when I was thirteen.”

For some reason those words made Shikamaru incredibly angry.

“Shikadai isn’t like you!” he hissed, this close to adding _an_ _idiot _before the _like you_.

“Well, he isn’t you either”, Kiba shot back. “Come on, Shikamaru. Half the village knows he’s trying so hard to act like you, to be like you. Good acting skills run in the family, it seems. I know you would never have dug up a grave when you were thirteen, because you were lazy. But he isn’t, am I right? He might not be a fool like I am, but he is not you.”

Shikamaru growled into his hands.

“That’s beside the point”, he said. “The point is he disobeyed me and did the wrong thing!”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Kiba asked. “Why isn’t he here with you to fix this?”

“I’ll do it myself”, Shikamaru said. “This is my problem.”

“Do you ever get tired of keeping this façade up?”

“Oh, shut up, Kiba.”

Shikamaru turned his back to Kiba and regretted that he ever wanted to cooperate. Kiba was like Naruto used to be, but had even less tact, and while Shikamaru was used to working with Naruto, he wasn’t with Kiba. But sill, the wolf was very catchy to have, and Shikamaru had already involved her into his plan.

Akemaru walked after a while up to Shikamaru and placed his chin on Shikamaru’s thigh. Shikamaru guessed this was Kiba’s way of apologizing, sending his dogs to cheer people up. No matter how much he wanted to keep his grudge up, he gave in and let his hand run through red fur.

“Since when have you had a contract with the wolf queen?” Shikamaru asked, opening and closing his lighter.

“Since last fall”, Kiba said. “She was damn hard to seduce, all wolves are. I think I worked three years to get her to agree to have a contract with me. Too bad wolves don’t have a Sage jutsu, though.”

“Hm”, Shikamaru huffed. “Cool, either way.”

“Do you know if you can have a contract with a stag?” Kiba asked, absentmindedly. “You could add a summoned deer to your repertoire; besides the shadows, you know?”

“I’m happy with my shadows”, Shikamaru said. “I don’t have time to chase after a contract with a deer. It would be too bothersome, to be honest.”

“I knew you’d say that!”

“Besides, Temari has that evil weasel summoning, so we don’t need more animals involved”, Shikamaru continued, smiling inside when thinking about Temari.

“Okay”, Kiba said. “Where is Temari, by the way?”

“Escort mission”, Shikamaru said. “She’s escorting a feudal lord couple all the way from Wind Country to Hot Spring Country. If I remember correctly, they started their journey yesterday by train.”

“To Hot Spring County, huh?” Kiba mumled. “What a coincidence. That’s exactly where we’re heading. Hidan and his henchmen are walking that way, and we’re less than one hundred kilometres from the village. You can sniff the steam from here already.”

Silence.

“Well, fuck.”

Kiba understood this time that he was better off not commenting on Shikamaru’s reaction. Instead he opened his bag and laid food on a blanket. He threw a honey rice cookie to his friend.

“Come on”, he said. “Eat a bit. And if you’re feeling generous, give the last piece to Akemaru. He’s spoiled rotten by me already.”

Shikamaru huffed something inaudible and ate grumpily the cookie. Akemaru laid by him, looking him in the eyes with the biggest brown eyes Shikamaru had ever seen, and he was so darn cute. Shikamaru put the last piece in his mouth without sharing, while daring Akemaru with his gaze.

All of a sudden, he remembered Kiba’s worried voice when he commanded Akamaru to stay home by Tamaki’s side. Tamaki was well capable of taking care of herself, way better than the old dog could defend her, which lead Shikamaru to the conclusion that she was sick.

“How’s Tamaki?” he asked casually, cautious to not thread on waters he was not supposed to.

“She’s very tired, and I swear, there’s not one place on her body that isn’t sore”, Kiba sighed. “She lays most of the time in bed, because walking hurts her back and hip. Luckily the planned C-section is in one week, so – “

“What? C-section?” Shikamaru interrupted.

“Yeah, didn’t you know?” Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow. “We’re becoming parents! And do you know what? It’s not only one baby, there are three. Three, Shikamaru! We’re having triplets! That’s why she’s in so much pain. You should see the belly.”

This would be the time Shikamaru would shower Kiba in congratulations upon becoming a father, and to not one, but three children at the same time, but somehow, he felt a dark shadow twist in his throat, because this was history repeating itself.

Asuma was a father-to-be, and he died by the hands of Hidan. Kiba is a father-to-be, and Shikamaru had just convinced and bribed him into tracking said murderer of Asuma.

“Oh no”, was the only thing that escaped Shikamaru’s lips and Kiba looked almost hurt.

“What do you mean?”

“I shouldn’t have asked you to come”, Shikamaru rose up and paced frantically around the fire. “If I had known about this, I had never asked you. I’m so sorry for bringing you here. You may leave if you want.”

“Hey, Shikamaru – “, Kiba tried.

“Hidan killed Asuma”, Shikamaru hissed. “Asuma never got so see his girl, and I’ll be damned forever if you won’t be able see you kids grow up, because I’ve failed to protect you.”

“I don’t need protection!” Kiba snarled. “Snap out of it, Shikamaru, you don’t have to protect everyone. If I really was that scared, I would’ve turned around ages ago, when I figured out who we’re pursuing.”

“But –“

“Don’t pull the ‘I’m the team leader’-shit again, because this is not like when we were twelve”, Kiba snarled. “I chose to come then, and I chose to come now, because I want to help you. You’re not responsible for me.”

Shikamaru stared at him, and without a word he sank down on his sleeping bag.

“Dogs or cats?” he just asked.

“What?” Kiba blinked at him.

“Your children”, Shikamaru said. “Will they use ninkens or ninnekos?”

Kiba visibly relaxed at the question.

“We’ll see”, he said with a smile. “The pack is growing, man. You should’ve seen our reactions when they had to call in a Hyuuga to the hospital a few months back, because Tamaki’s belly was so gigantic, and the Hyuuga checked her with the byakugan and he almost fainted when he saw three different chakra systems.”

“You’ll be drowning in cats and dogs before long. And children”, Shikamaru said and turned his back once again to Kiba. “I’ll sleep a bit. You do sense when they start moving, don’t you? We should summon the wolf back by then, at the latest.”

“Yes”, Kiba said, yawning. “Mononoke is a good fighter, and she has two pups she cooperates in battle with. We can use them when we find Hidan and his buddies.”

"Good". Shikamaru closed his eyes, dreaming back to the time when he used to caress Temari’s pregnant belly.

Kiba sat still for a very long time, wondering whether he should tell Shikamaru or not that Ino had been in his head, reading his mind.

“Kurenai”, Shikadai said quietly, while looking up to the moon from the balcony. It was almost midnight, but he wasn’t the slightest sleepy. “I don’t think dad’s going to come. He’s probably after Hidan already and hasn’t seen the note.”

Kurenai sighed deeply and rubbed her temples.

“Damn it”, she said. “Damn it, damn it.”

“We should go after him”, Shikadai continued. “I… I hate feeling like this. I don’t know where Hidan, or dad is, and what if Hidan has already done something to my dad and we – “

“Shikamaru won’t die so easily”, Mirai interrupted. “He won’t die, I’m sure of it. He can’t die.”

“Anyone can die, Mirai”, Kurenai said with sorrow in her voice.

“I don’t care, Shikamaru won’t die”, Mirai said angrily, this time. “And if he does, I’ll rip Hidan apart with my bare hands.” She looked up and saw Shikadai’s terrified eyes. “He won’t die, Shikadai.”

“But why hasn’t he come?” Shikadai whispered. “This – this is not right! He should’ve been here a long time ago.” He held his hands against his stomach, and Mirai guess he was worried sick, to the degree he had physical cramps. The soothing tea they had drunk earlier didn’t seem to have any effect, and when he started to breathe more sharply Mirai had already made the genjutsu sign, but she didn’t have any time to activate it before someone rang the door.

Shikadai snapped immediately out of the rising panic attack and dashed to the door, waiting to see Shikamaru’s face by the door.

Ino stood on the other side, and her face was serious. Shikadai forgot how to breathe at the sight of her sad eyes.

“No”, he whispered.

“Shikamaru’s after Hidan”, Ino said, more to Kurenai who stood behind Shikadai, than to Shikadai. “I found his mind, and I’ve tried to contact him, but he blocks me out.”

“Take it from the beginning, Ino”, Kurenai said and invited her into their living room. They all sat by the table and waited for Ino to tell them more. “How do you know of this? I can’t imagine Shikamaru telling you.”

“He didn’t”, Ino said, and threw a side glance at Shikadai. “Inojin told me something was wrong with you, and I investigated. Didn’t take that long to figure out what was wrong. But we’re in trouble. Or he is in trouble.” She inhaled sharply. “He’s pursuing Hidan, and he’s pretty close to the boarder of Hot Spring Country.”

Shikadai felt a hand of ice grab his heart and squeeze it hard. Hot Spring Country… that’s where Mum is heading on her escort mission and they started their travel yesterday already. If they took the night train from Suna, then they’ll be soon at their destination, he realized.

Ino turned to Kurenai.

“He’s accompanied by Kiba”, she said, her heart hurting by the very thought of Kiba, a father-to-be, in such a dangerous situation. They all knew what had happened to Asuma.

“Kiba?” Kurenai echoed. “He’s accompanying Shikamaru on a quest like this, days before his babies will be born? That madman!” She run her hands through her hair. “And you said Shikamaru blocks you out? How is that possible?”

“He knows my jutsus almost as well as his own”, Ino said. “And he knows the weakness and can block me out. But I’ve got his location somewhat down, and you need to leave now! If you travel non-stop all night, you’ll be able to reach them before sun dawn. Shikamaru will need our help, you see, there are three enemies, probably with same abilities as Hidan…” Ino sighed, painfully aware of Shikadai’s presence. She wished from the bottom of her heart he wasn’t there to hear her, but there was no point in keeping him away from the truth. “Shikamaru believes this to be a suicide mission on his part. He left a note at home to Temari – a suicide note.”

“You’re kidding!” Mirai shouted. “He can’t die!” She turned around and grabbed Shikadai by his wrist and yanked him into her own room. She shut the door and put her hands on Shikadai’s shoulders. She looked into his eyes, but he didn’t look back, because he was already staring into a nightmare where his dad was dead because of his mistakes. “Shikadai, look at me. We won’t let Shikamaru – our father – die. Trust me. We’ll help him, save him, I don’t care, _something_! Look at me!”

Kurenai opened the door.

“We’ll talk on the way”, she interrupted. “Pack some weapons, we’re going to avenge Asuma together.”

Shikadai packed wordlessly what few things he had with him and was handed more kunai knives by Mirai. The world was spinning, and his heart beat fast. He eyed the other two enviously when they dressed themselves in their wests – his own was still at home, but there was no time to bring it. He was going to look like a little genin in their presence.

“Are you coming?” Kurenai asked Ino, who made herself ready to leave.

“I’ll accompany you later”, Ino said. “There’s something I must tend to first.”

“Fine”, Kurenai said, as Ino shut the door behind her. “Mirai, Shikadai, are you ready?”

Mirai turned to Shikadai, who was pale as a ghost.

“Ever killed?” she asked. Shikadai shook his head. The harmless D-rank and the two C-rank missions he’s ever done did not include killing. None of his friends had killed. He hadn’t believed the day when he had to do it would come this fast. “Well, there’s a first to everything.”

They jumped down the balcony, not letting a single moment going to waste. Kurenai took the lead and when Mirai was sure she wouldn’t hear them, she grabbed Shikadai by his arm and squeezed.

“Let’s kill this motherfucker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for keeping up the suspence, hehe. The big confrontation is in the next chapter, I promise.
> 
> Voilá, Kiba made his entrance! He was actually my first fav character before some random lazy boy snatched that status. The idea of Kiba having triplets is by tumblr user "kyoties", and it was too good to not take inspiration from. And hopefully many of you get the Mononoke reference :) 
> 
> What do you think Ino will "tend to", before joining them later?


	7. Shikamaru vs Hidan

Shikamaru was awoken by a wet dog tongue licking his face. He pushed the dog away with a grunt, but Akemaru wouldn’t stop. Shikamaru forced himself to open his eyes, thinking _what a drag_ and turned around to scout for Kiba.

“Are your naps always six hours long?” Kiba asked amusingly.

“Get your dog”, Shikamaru grumbled before processing what Kiba said. “Six _hours_? Why the hell didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“They haven’t moved all night”, Kiba said lazily. “They started moving minutes before we woke you up. Besides, a brainy guy like you need sleep to function. Don’t pretend like this isn’t true.”

Shikamaru got up and quickly cleaned up the campsite.

“Okay, listen, Kiba, and you better listen goddamn closely, because I’m about to tell you the plan now”, Shikamaru said. “And we can’t afford having you killed.”

Whenever working with in his Ino-Shika-Cho team, everything worked like a clockwork. All the cogwheels were linked together like a dream, because that’s how the Ino-Shika-Cho worked. As they grew older their combined missions became scarcer, but still multiple a year. Teamwork with Ino and Choji was Shikamaru’s thing, and even if he was praised as a good leader, he knew he wasn’t perfect and snapped easily at other team members that weren’t Ino or Choji.

Kiba was a prime example of this. The knowledge he had of Kiba’s team working skills was shallow, and that made him snappy. He didn’t trust Kiba enough to truly give him space when choosing the plan. One of his bigger flaws, people used to say. _You need to learn to trust others, too, Shikamaru. Don’t think you’re the only one capable of planning. _

“Sound doable”, Kiba simply said after Shikamaru finished his talking.

“Good”, Shikamaru replied. “Let’s go.”

“Summoning jutsu!”

The queen of wolves, Mononoke, appeared out of smoke.

“Are we up to fight?” she asked as Kiba, Akemaru and Shikamaru climbed onto her back.

“Yes”, Kiba said. “If it’s not too much to ask, may you summon your pups too, when it’s time?”

Mononoke growled from the very bottom of her troath, and it sounded almost like she purred. She turned her head around and gave Kiba a wolf grin.

“Interesting”, she smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

She dashed away and Shikamaru pinched his legs against her lean body, trying to not lose his balance. Less than fifty kilometres until they reach Hidan and the two companions, and if Hidan walk normal pace they’ll get to him in just an hour at the most.

It had been almost two decades since Shikamaru looked Hidan in the eyes as he flipped the burning cigarette at him. The bang of the explosion of the paper bombs against Hidan’s body had left Shikamaru with tinnitus in his right ear, but the symptoms had over the years faded into almost silence, as Shikamaru only heard the annoying beeps when he actually listened to them. But he had since that fateful day got to marry the most wonderful woman he knows, got to see a wonderful girl grow up and got to be a father to a wonderful boy, because he had survived.

And he was nowhere in hell going to let Hidan ruin this. Even if Hidan right now was on his away from Konoha Shikamaru was sure, _so sure_ Hidan would return to seek revenge on him. It would maybe not be this week, this month, or even this year, but Hidan would return to make him his most precious sacrifice, and Shikamaru was to eliminate that possibility as soon as possible.

This was his mess, and his mess alone.

An hour on wolfback passed and Shikamaru’s butt hurt again. Kiba winced suddenly and put his hand over his nose.

“That stench!” he growled. “It reeks of blood. We’re close.”

_So, they’ve found a sacrifice._

“Damn it”, Shikamaru whispered to himself, and Mononoke took a sharp turn at the crossroad they were passing, and ran through a little grove and there, in the clearing at the other side of the grove –

Mononoke stopped and Kiba slid over her head, moving swiftly in a somersault onto standing legs.

“They are only 300 metres ahead of us”, he said. “If even that. Soon they’ll be able to hear us.”

“Okay”, Shikamaru said. “Remember the plan.”

Mononoke lifted her head and _howled _a chilling howl, bringing shivers down Shikamaru’s spine. Two black wolves appeared out of smoke. When Kiba had used the word “pups” Shikamaru had assumed he meant actual puppies and not big monstrosities, that, without a doubt were the wolf queen’s children.

“Are we going to fight, Mother?” one of the puppies asked with a raspy voice.

“Are we allowed to kill, Mother?” the other one asked.

“Yes”, Mononoke answered. “Follow the men’s lead, my dearies.”

The wolves scattered around the trees and Shikamaru and Kiba walked down the road, to where Hidan and his men were.

“Last chance to turn around”, Shikamaru said between clenched teeth. “Think of your children.”

“I don’t turn back on fights”, Kiba answered.

“Then go into your position”, Shikamaru said and Kiba and Akemaru run into the forest to accompany the wolves. Shikamaru hoped that Hidan and his men had never fought beasts before, and that would give them some advantage in the fight.

All his confidence and hate had turned into a bleak shadow of what they should be. He was scared. So scared. And what made everything worse was that the weather was not cooperating at all. The sun was hiding amongst clouds, and that put him immediately in a disadvantage. His shadows worked but were ultimately weaker when the sun wasn’t out. It might even rain.

Shikamaru felt in his bag for the one light bomb he had. One single bomb. Fuck, it won’t be enough, if the fight proves to be difficult.

He continued walking, until he saw three shapes grow bigger and bigger down the path. His heart throbbed, as the distance between him and the trio got smaller. The trio had stopped. Shikamaru continued walking until he caught up to them.

Hidan and two unknown men stood in front of him. One of the men had red hair and the other one was bald, with a tattoo on his scalp. All three of them had scythes, but while Hidan had one with three blades, the other ones had only two blades, which lead Shikamaru to assume they were of less rank than Hidan.

“I fucking told you he would come.” The voice was unmistakable. It was Hidan’s voice, and Shikamaru wanted to lunge at him and stab him in the eyeballs with a knife, but he managed to hold back. If he really concentrated, he would maybe hear the wolves among the trees, and he had to wait for them.

“You look more put together than last”, Shikamaru said, trying to gather time to analyse the situation. Hidan’s left arm didn’t seem well, the hand was disformed and he didn’t have all his fingers. He really could be double the age of Shikamaru, though he knew Hidan wasn’t less than ten years older than him. His clothing hid the rest of his body, leaving Shikamaru to only guess what shape he really was in. It was the friends he had to worry about. “Last time I saw you, you were screaming around in the dirt with worms – where you belong.”

“Such a big foul mouth”, Hidan laughed. “You are all grown up, Shikamaru brat. I really have to tell you that – “

“Shadow Possession Jutsu!”

To Shikamaru’s surprise Hidan didn’t flinch. He let the shadow catch him, but his both partners jumped a few metres back. There was an ugly grin on his face, that faltered.

“Can you let me finish talking, for fucks’ sake? I promise you I’ll crush you and make your death a nasty one but let me talk!” Hidan complained like a spoiled child. Shikamaru noticed how the other two whispered to each other, and he grew more insecure.

“Then talk”, Shikamaru hissed, channelling his emotions to his primary enemy. “Because it will be the last thing you’ll ever do.”

“Remember when I said I’ll kill you?” Hidan said, smiling. He was too confident. Way too confident for a man with missing fingers and a deformed arm, caught in a shadow trap.

“Can’t forget that that easily”, Shikamaru said dryly.

“All those years in that dark grave gave me plenty of time to figure out how I’ll do it”, Hidan continued. “But without arms or legs… it seemed hopeless. But the Great Lord Jashin never fails his devoted priests and worshipers. Not even those lost in rock and dirt. He gave me a blessing. A blessing called Shikadai.”

Shikamaru’s face twisted with anger and he quickly changed his hand sign. With pinkies and index fingers pointing to the sky and middle fingers and ring fingers linked together the chakra flowed differently into his shadow.

“Shadow Stitching Jutsu!”

“Ouch!” Hidan shrieked when the shadows penetrated his limbs.

“Don’t you ever talk about my son again”, Shikamaru hissed, and the three wolves ran out of the forest, accompanied by a gigantic red two-headed dog beast. So Kiba and Akemaru did master the man beast-jutsu, even if Akemaru still was in training. Shikamaru smiled inside himself.

They were going to win this one.

Until the bald man put his index and middle finger vertically against the other pair.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu”, the bald man shouted, and this was a trick Shikamaru hadn’t taken into consideration. Way over thirty shadow clones of the bald man appeard, and they all had scythes. Shikamaru had fought with shadow clones so many times that he knew how independent and dangerous they could be, and this time, he was fighting against them.

“Don’t let the scythes touch you!” Shikamaru yelled at Kiba and the wolves, though they very well knew this already. He was forced to release his Shadow Stitching to instead make the shadow chase at least some of the clones.

The wolves were holding up well against the clones. They bit and sliced through them, and the dog beast Kiba torpedoed down a good ten of them. But then there was the other man, the redhead. Shikamaru saw how he lifted his hands, forming a series of signs, it had to be a Water Style sequence based on the signs and –

“Water Style: Furious Current Jutsu!” the redhead shouted, and waves flouted furiously around him, entrapping the wolves. The water hit also Shikamaru and Hidan, but Hidan didn’t even flinch, not even when the water reached their waists. This was bad! Shikamaru lifted his hands, prepared to jump away from the water (_fuck, that’s a long way_!), but before he had time to do anything the redhead moved his hand again.

“Water Style: Ice Burial!” he shouted, and that was a jutsu Shikamaru had never heard off. Any Burial jutsu was deadly, and he released his shadow’s grip around Hidan, as the water around them quickly turned into ice, and he leapt back, but it didn’t matter how far back he jumped. The water surrounded him when landing again, and after one frantic leap he was forced to feel how the ice engulfed one of his legs and one arm.

He still had his left arm free, and he reached for a kunai, and hacked in into the ice. The ice cracked a bit, changing the direction of the kunai and Shikamaru was lucky to not stab himself in his tendons of the right wrist. So, no more kunai in the ice, then. He threw a glance around him, only to see Kiba being stuck in the ice in his dog beast form, and one of the wolf puppies slowly suffocating under the ice.

The redhead didn’t seem to be bothered by the ice, and simply heaved himself up on the ice’s surface. He walked on the ice up to Hidan, and by a gentle touch and a low _release _the ice around Hidan’s body turned into water and he did, just as his partner, heave himself up on the surface.

“Thank you, Kihaku”, Hidan said. “Too bad you didn’t get to see more of the shadow show, it’s cute when he loses chakra and has to give in. But I guess we spared a lot of trouble now. Mokoma, you take care of the beasts.”

The bald man with the shadow clones nodded and walked towards Kiba. Kiba released his beast form, and by being smaller than the hole around him, hauled himself up. Akemaru wasn’t as lucky, the ice was too slippery, and Kiba in too much hurry to help him. Mokoma slung the scythe at him, and he had to retreat. Kiba reached after a smoke bomb in his bag and threw it at the enemy.

_Yes_! Shikamaru thought after the success of the smoke bomb. Kiba was going to use the smoke as a diversion and find the enemy through the sense of smell. A typical Inuzuka way of fighting, and a convenient one, especially when fighting enemies not used to their kind. 

He heard the sound of kunai meeting blades of the scythe and the worried whining of Akemaru among the smoke, and all of a sudden, a heart wrenching howl of the wolf puppy trapped under the ice. Kihaku, the shinobi with the ice jutsu, had turned around and by clapping his hands together had made the ice move, shift in a way the wolf’s body couldn’t handle. The cracked ice moved in two different directions, ultimately breaking the spine and neck of the wolf with an audible _crack._

“Annoying mutt”, Kihaku said to Hidan. “I’ll take care of the small dog. You kill him.” Kihaku walked in the direction of the hole where Akemaru, still was struggling to get out, was.

“You”, Hidan smiled at Shikamaru and unlocked his scythe from his back. “Oh, how I’ve longed for this moment. You’re my most precious sacrifice after all. Do you know the feeling of giving a sacrifice to Lord Jashin? It’s like a fucking orgasm. How I long to feel it.”

Shikamaru twisted his stuck hand in the ice, forcing himself to think rationally. The ice moved, putting pressure on his forearm, and he felt his bones not being able to hold up for much longer. A tiny shift in the ice, and his arm would fracture.

If kunai didn’t work, he had to melt the ice around his hand, so he could use proper hand signs, but how was he going to use a Fire Release without both hands? He heard the howls of the two other wolves, and guessed they were now fighting both Mokoma and Kihaku to save Akemaru from being crushed, but he had no time to check, because he tried frantically to make half of the signs of snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse and tiger. With only one hand the success was poor.

Fire Style was the element Shikamaru was born with, and had a stronger connection to, but he was no Uchiha, and hadn’t even been that interested in learning to do all the flashy, strong jutsus with it. He had thought it was too troublesome to evolve in the field of Elemental Styles, so he hadn’t, and it backfired now.

One tiny, tiny flame erupted from his mouth, big enough to make the surface wet and soft, but not close enough to make any difference. His hand was still stuck in the ice, and so cold he had lost his sense of touch in the fingers, and his bones were on their breaking point, and it hurt so bad. A shadow was cast upon him and when he looked up Hidan stood right in front of him.

“Out of ideas, plan boy?” he asked sadistically and lowered his scythe so one of the blades was at the same height as Shikamaru’s nose. The blade touched the tip of his nose, but the pressure was not big enough to rip his skin. Shikamaru froze in place, staring at his reflection in the blade. Was he going to die here?

Hidan lifted his scythe again, this time with intentions of drawing blood from Shikamaru to perform his sacrificial jutsu. Shikamaru whole life, with all his failures and horrific moments, but also the purest moments of love and happiness, flashed before his eyes as he closed them.

_I’m so sorry Shikadai and Temari._

“Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!”

Flames surrounded him, and he gasped at the heat melting the ice around his hand, before his senses caught up to reality and he _screamed_ at the burning pain around his arm, as his sleeve had caught fire. He yanked the hand and leg out of the icy grip and stumbled backwards, unable to think through the pain of his burning arm. Someone grabbed his shoulders and when he looked behind him, he was met with red eyes. He heard and saw her activate a Water Style jutsu and the fire on his sleeve was extinguished, but the pain was nowhere over.

“Are you okay?” Kurenai asked and Shikamaru couldn’t even nod out of confusion.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he burst out.

“Saving you”, Kurenai said between her teeth.

Mirai continued blazing fireballs around her to melt the big block of ice, and a chock of relief and pride was sent through Shikamaru’s body. It was Mirai who had saved him, and he felt so proud over her, managing to create such magnificent fire. She had his vote in becoming a jonin. The fact that she burned his arm in the process meant nothing.

“Dad!” Shikamaru turned around and saw his son. “Your arm!”

“Shikadai”, he exclaimed and pulled Shikadai into a hug Shikadai was not prepared for, but it felt _so good _to be hugged by Shikamaru.

“Fight first, talk later!” Kurenai shouted at them, and Shikamaru snapped of whatever trance he was in. He grabbed Shikadai by the arm and forced him to back into the shadow of the trees.

”If someone comes, trap them with your shadow”, he hissed at Shikadai. “Don’t move.”

“I want to help you”, Shikadai cried out.

“I refuse to see my boy die”, Shikamaru said. “Stay here and stay safe.”

He ran back into the fight, where Mirai furiously tried to cut Hidan’s head off with her chakra blades, the ones passed down to her from her father. Shikamaru commanded his shadows to track Hidan’s feet, but he was so fast that the shadow didn’t keep up. If Kurenai could trap him in a horrible genjutsu they might have a chance, but she had her hands full with the shadow clones of Mokoma. Shikamaru had a wild guess that she tried to put the clones through genjutsus to find the original, but they were more of the now than the first round – damn that Mokoma with his chakra resources.

The wolf queen Mononoke, paired up with Kiba and the other wolf puppy had surrounded the ice jutsu shinobi – Kihaku, was it? – and they tried their hardest to bring him down, but the shadow clones interrupted their flow too.

Damn it! The man with the clones had to be brought down first if they wanted to win this fight. If only these two men were as polite as Hidan’s last parter, Kakuzu, who’d only silently watched the freak show from the side. Kakuzu had only stepped in to sew Hidan’s head back in place, and as far as Shikamaru knew; these men couldn’t perform such stitching. If they wanted to collect a body together again, they had to perform some sort of ritual, and this was their advantage in this fight.

If they only managed to cut the head off even one of them the fight was almost as much as won.

Oh, how he hated fighting immortals.

One of the clones attacked him, and he had to turn to taijutsu to make the clone _poof_ away. He hadn’t fought with taijutsu in a long time (was it always this difficult to connect the foot to someone’s cheek before?), but eventually, he managed to break the clones spell.

“Do you know who I am?” Mirai yelled between slashes of her chakra blades and the scythe. She was faster, stronger and way livider than Hidan, and if she got a few more minutes, she would be able to disarm him.

“Some bitchy little girl”, Hidan yelled back. “I’ll get you too! There are never enough sacrifices, never! Fucking bitch!”

Mirai’s face was turned into a snarl as she twisted the blades, and – oh, shit – almost got his scythe. He used only one hand, with little help of his disformed left hand, but with the unexpected strength of an immortal, held his ground.

“I’m Asuma’s daughter”, Mirai continued. “And I’m going to kill you.”

“Who the fuck is Asuma?” Hidan asked loud enough so even Shikamaru could hear him, and Shikamaru broke the shadow clone he was fighting in half with his kunai, and now that Hidan was more interested in Mirai he didin’t pay much attention to his feet anymore.

Shikamaru’s shadows crept along the ground, Mirai held Hidan occupied enough to not look down on the ground. Shikamaru smiled, put his hands together in a rat sign and –

Hidan plummeted away from Mirai, who stumbled off the sudden shift in pressure she had to put on her arms to press the knives against Hidan’s scythe. She almost fell as she realized with horror which victim Hidan was after.

Hidan snatched his scythe and whipped it in the opposite direction, straight to the big, red dog beast. Kiba was occupied by Mokoma, as he had finally found the original out of the shadow clones. He held down Mokoma with big paws provided with claws, and both heads of the dog beast prepared to tear Mokoma’s throat. He registered Shikamaru and Mirai’s combined screams too late, and when the heads lifted, it was way too late.

The left head of the beast got hit by the scythe and blood poured out of the wound right beneath the eye. Kiba and Akemaru howled in unison in pain, as they both shared their senses in the dog beast form.

“Mirai, disarm him!” Shikamaru shrieked and lunged forward and hit a wall of ice. He had no time to react as the wall raised in front of him, and he hit his head with full force in it. The world spun around him and he realised that he would get a concussion, but there was no time to think about himself, because Hidan had Kiba’s blood.

Mirai blazed fire, melting the wall, but and when they got to the other side, it was already too late.

Hidan’s skin was already turned black and white in a scull pattern. He stood in the middle of a pentagram of blood, and there were shadow clones everywhere to protect Hidan. Mirai screamed and cursed at Hidan, as she battled her way through the clones.

“No!” Shikamaru shouted and he _forced _his shadow to reach Hidan in time.

“Too late, brat”, Hidan said, smiled and cut his blade across his throat.

The red dog beast; Kiba and Akemaru, disappeared in a big cloud of smoke and both original bodies fell motionlessly on the wet ground, with a _thump._

“Kiba!” Kurenai shouted, and to Shikamaru’s great relief Kiba raised immediately up, but he didn’t look at Kurenai; he looked at Akemaru.

The portion of blood Hidan had gotten from the dog beast was not Kiba’s, it was Akemaru’s. It was the dog head controlled by Akemaru’s chakra that had been sliced with the scythe.

“No, no, no”, Kiba whispered as he cradled the lifeless, little red dog in his arms, as Akemaru’s blood stained his jacket.

“Fuck!” Hidan shrieked. “Did I get a fucking dog? This is unfair.” He turned to the pale Shikamaru. “Then I’ll get you next time.”

Kiba didn’t have time to mourn, the ice jutsu shinobi attacked him again with Water Style attacks, but luckily Mononoke grabbed Akemaru in her big mouth and brought him under a tree close to Shikadai.

Shikadai stared at the dead dog. There was an Inuzuka in two grades above him, Juhi Inuzuka, who had a giant wolfdog, Damaru, with her wherever she walked. They were basically inseparable, and he remembered how he one day asked his dad why Juhi got to bring Damaru with her everywhere, even if he always knocked things over with his fluffy tail and pushed people as he walked by Juhi’s side. Shikamaru had told him about the importance for the Inuzuka to live with their ninken, to share every moment with their partner.

This was not fair. It was not fair for Kiba to lose his partner, close friend, over a mistake Shikadai did. Shikadai clenched his fists, staring into the battlefield, the turmoil of four versus three, plus uncountable number of shadow clones to keep track off. There had to be some opening for him to slide in, to catch someone in his shadows, anything.

He was too far away to catch anyone in his shadow. He had to move closer to the actual battle to have any impact. He knew that if Hidan got someone’s blood, and got to stand on that pentagram he’d drawn, they’re done for. The scythe of Hidan swirled around, trying to desperately rip someone’s skin, but luckily all fighters were good shinobi who don’t fall for such tricks –

Shikadai drew a sharp breath and he saw his father stumble back, the scythe being close enough to slash his ear. Shikamaru’s eyes shot wide up in horror as he pressed his palm against his slashed ear and was welcomed with the stickiness of fresh blood. Hidan got his blood.

Shikamaru formed his fingers into a rat sign and managed to make his shadow stop Hidan. The blade was just a decimetre out of Hidan’s tongue’s reach, and if the shadow didn’t budge, Hidan wouldn’t be able to lick Shikamaru’s blood off the blade.

No one seemed to have noticed this. No one, as everyone had their hands full of enemies of their own. And anyone who did know anything about chakra could see that Shikamaru barely had any left. Shikamaru’s arm was already covered in red, painful blisters where the skin hadn’t fallen off already, and his head hurt, and the world was spinning in front of his eyes, and he had given his all during the whole fight sequence, and now the last seconds were going on.

“You’re mine, brat”, Hidan said, his arm shaking from the resistance of the shadow. The fact that he even managed to move his arm a little told the world about Shikamaru’s low chakra. “And I’ll enjoy every fucking second of your death.”

Shikadai darted out of the safe place among the trees, left Akemaru’s body by the trunk, and barrelled to reach his dad.

His shadow would maybe hold Hidan in place for long enough for Shikamaru to get rid of the scythe, but he was still too far away. Using shadows was an ambush technique. Yes, there were more offensive variations of the jutsu, but Shikadai couldn’t use them just yet. Using a shadow was the perfect weapon for someone calm, and rational, with the patience of waiting for the perfect opportunity. Someone like Shikamaru.

Shikadai didn’t want to use his shadow. It wouldn’t even matter, he couldn’t. He didn’t, in this present moment, have the concentration to focus chakra in his feet and guide a shadow through the swarm of feet on the battle ground. He wanted force. He wanted the cruelty of wind and the brutality of a hurricane. Shadows require patience. Wind does not. And Shikadai wasn’t the slightest patient.

He forced his shaking hands into the signs.

Rabbit. Bird. Rat. Dragon. Bird.

”Wind Style: Dance of Turbulence!”

If the wind was strong enough, Hidan would have to drop the blade. In an ideal world Shikadai’s jutsu would be strong enough to blow the blade away, to force Hidan to drop the weapon, but this was reality, and reality was cruel.

The wind was not strong enough.

In that moment, Shikamaru’s shadow snapped.

Hidan laughed manically and the blade was almost in his mouth, the blood almost touching his tongue when his body went stiff, and his head tilted forward. He opened his hands and let the bloody scythe fall. Shikamaru let himself fall down on his butt. He had seen this happen before more than twice.

“Summoning Jutsu! Quick Beheading Dance!”

Shikadai jerked at the sound of that familiar voice, and a waterfall of relief went through his whole body. A one-eyed weasel with a large sickle in its paws rushed through the air, and the air currents of its rampage forced Shikadai to crouch. Kamatari was here!

Shikamaru, also drowning in relief, realized the danger of the situation. Kamatari rarely did his job clean.

“Ino! Get out of him, NOW!” he cried out to his team-mate.

Ino, who laid on the ground by Temari’s feet, furrowed her brows, and lifted her head off the ground after releasing her Mind Possession Jutsu the second before Kamatari, Temari’s summoned weasel, cut Hidan’s head off.

“That fucking hurts!” Hidan howled and the second his head hit the ground, Mononoke, the queen of wolves, jumped at him, and _crushed _his head between her two strong jaws. She devoured every inch of Hidan’s head and soon after moved over to the body.

Kihaku and Mokoma, Hidan’s henchmen, turned around, chocked by the situation, leaving their backs open. Kiba struck his kunai in the nape of Mokoma’s neck, and twisted, while Mirai sliced Kihaku’s throat. Both of their heads were cut off, and Mononoke’s other puppy crushed the heads, and both wolves scoffed the three bodies, bone and all, until there was nothing left.

Temari and Ino were here. They had just saved Shikamaru’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, man. Battle scenes. Wow.
> 
> Of course Temari comes to the rescue! What would the shadow boys do without her (or Aunt Ino)? Also, it was actually a coincidence that Shikamaru was saved by four women and not a single man, lol.
> 
> I was tempted to have Kiba die, but... that would be really cruel.
> 
> Hope you liked the fight! 
> 
> Next chapter will be the last one, and it's a long chapter. How will everyone cope after this?


	8. Nara Shikadai of the Sand

“Mum!” Shikadai let out and he ran up to her. She opened her arms and greeted her son.

“What on earth have you been through?” she murmured into his hair but didn’t give Shikadai her full attention as Shikamaru hurried over to them. She let Shikadai go and straightened her back. She braced herself to shout at Shikamaru and to beat the stupid out of him, but when he finally caught up to her, she didn’t find the energy to be furious. “And what the hell were you doing? Trying to get yourself killed in front of Shikadai, huh?”

Shikamaru didn’t answer and wrapped his arms around Temari. Before he could stop himself, he cried into her hair, staining her blonde hair with blood from his ear.

“Thank you”, he sobbed. “Thank you.”

Temari pushed him gently away from her.

“It’s not me you have to thank”, she said. “It’s Ino.”

Shikamaru turned to Ino, who had gotten up from the ground. Only one simple glance told him she was furious at him. He instantly wiped his tears.

“You would’ve been dead if I’d not notice something was wrong”, Ino said, with a voice shaking of rage. “You tried to push me away, going all martyr and trying to fix the world by yourself, but, Shikamaru, _wake up_! We work in teams. You work in a team. Does teamwork mean nothing to you anymore?”

Shikamaru opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.

“You may want to put blame on Shikadai for starting this shitshow, but you ultimately made it hell of a lot worse”, Ino said.

“I’m sorry”, Shikamaru croaked out, but the words felt empty. Kiba had just lost his ninken, the wolf queen lost one of her puppies and Shikamaru almost lost his life. How was a sorry going to save the situation?

“Yeah, yeah, spare your sorry for Naruto”, Ino said. “Because we’re heading straight for his office after this. No more sneaking behind other people’s backs.” Shikamaru didn’t answer and Temari laced her fingers into his, and squeezed, not entirely gently, but in a way Temari did to show she cared. She was, without doubt, enraged at him for doing this, but right now, she understood not to scold him any further. “I’m very tempted not to treat your arm, so you would every day be reminded of your stupidity, but I’m not that cruel. Give me a look.”

Shikamaru raised his pained arm, and both Temari and Ino examined it.

“Holy shit, she got you”, Ino mumbled. “Sit down.” Her turquoise healing chakra poured into Shikamaru’s arm and he gritted his teeth at the pain of the blisters.

“Fuck, that hurts”, he breathed, and Temari dug her fingernails into his other arm so he would feel something else than the burns.

Shikadai observed the situation for a moment, and then walked over to Mirai, who sat on the ground, exhausted and dirty. He sat by her.

“How are you?” he asked, and he realized Mirai was crying.

“He didn’t even remember his name”, she said, swallowing her tears. “Hidan… my dad meant nothing to him. He was nothing more than a roadblock in his way. Not an opponent worthy enough to even remember.”

“He was talking shit”, Shikadai said instantly. “Asuma was probably the greatest opponent he ever faced.”

“Oh, stop spilling shit”, Mirai said, and she almost laughed. “We both know that the greatest opponent he ever had is Shikamaru.” They both looked at Shikamaru, being treated by Ino.

Shikadai didn’t know how to answer her.

“But I’m glad.” Mirai looked up to the sky, at the grey clouds, at the rain that was going to break out any moment. “I’m glad that it’s Shikamaru.” Tears escaped her eyes again. “He has been the greatest for me.”

She gave Shikadai a smile through her tears.

“Baby bro.”

He smiled back.

Kurenai walked up to Kiba, who sat by the tree trunk. He had once again taken his dead partner in his arms, holding the puppy close to his chest.

“I’m sorry it had to end like this”, he told Akemaru. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry you can’t see the babies grow up and play with them and show them who’s the boss in the house. I’m sorry you can’t have ridiculous arguments with the cats anymore. I’m sorry you can’t sleep in bed with us and snuggle close to me anymore. I’m sorry.”

“Kiba”, Kurenai said, gently. As his former teacher, she knew how greatly he cared for his ninken partner. The reason why he only had one dog, instead of following his sister’s footsteps and got a pack, was because he cared so much for only one. He had spent hours grooming and playing with Akamaru back in his teens, and if he wanted to train little Akemaru to become his new fighting partner, then he was probably doing the same to him.

“S’okay”, Kiba said, and his voice broke.

“No, it’s not”, Kurenai said, knowing very well that Kiba rarely tried to hide his emotions.

“It’s just… I had so many plans with him”, Kiba said. “He was going to – I really thought we could, with a bit of training, exceed what Akamaru and I had been. But… Ah, fuck, I don’t know. I just want to go home. Our babies will be born on Friday and I must put my energy on them instead. On Tamaki. She’s probably worried. I guess it’s a good thing I now have less things to think about – “

“Kiba, remember to mourn Akemaru too”, Kurenai said. “Mourn him before your babies come.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah”, Kiba said just to get Kurenai to shut up. He just wanted to go home. To leave this cursed place. “Tell Shikamaru I’m leaving. I, uh… tell him I expect to get paid for this.”

“We need to rapport everything to the Hokage, Kiba”, Kurenai said. “Even you.”

“I’ll join you later”, Kiba said. “There’s…uh… well, you can say we have a ritual when our ninken die. I want to perform it as quickly as possible. And it sucks that we’re this far away from home. So, I’ll go home.”

Kurenai didn’t stop him when he walked into the forest with his partner and disappeared among the shadows. She turned to the wolf queen and the other black wolf, who were mourning their dead kin. She got closer to them and bowed deeply.

“Thank you for your assistance and we’re so sorry for your loss”, she said.

Mononoke didn’t answer. She just bared her teeth at Kurenai, and both wolves disappeared in smoke. Kurenai sighed deeply.

The rain broke out.

Temari fetched Shikadai and Mirai, and everyone, except Kiba, gathered around Shikamaru.

“We need to leave”, Temari said. “There’s an inn a few kilometres from here, let’s stay there the night. Tomorrow we travel home.”

The others agreed.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.”

As one could except, Naruto freaked out upon hearing the truth. He rearranged his whole week just to have time to figure out how to deal with Hidan’s return and death, the death of Kiba’s ninken and what sort of compensation he was about to get for the mess and some kind of payment to everyone involved except Shikamaru and Shikadai.

Soon enough the whole village got to know about the escapade, and Shikamaru was bombarded with questions from colleagues and strangers alike. How could the Hokage’s assistant go behind the Hokage’s back? What was the true story of the immortal man in the forest? Shikamaru hated being asked and hated all the attention that suddenly was aimed towards him.

Temari, on the other hand, walked down the streets without getting weird looks or questions from people totally unrelated to them.

“It’s because they’re afraid that you’ll murder them for asking”, Shikamaru muttered to her when she returned the second day from the shop.

“Good”, Temari answered, as if that reasoning was the most logical.

“Such a drag when people pry in other people’s businesses”, Shikamaru said. “Why can’t they leave me alone for one second? I don’t get why they care about my personal grudges.”

“You son cares”, Temari answered without looking at her husband. “You should really talk. It’s been two days.”

“I don’t know how”, Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.

“The same way your father talked to you when you were upset”, Temari said. “I’ve had lengthy discussions with Shikadai already. It’s about time for you to have one as well.”

Shikamaru set up the shogi board, places the pieces into their positions, readying his mind.

“Dad?” Shikadai stood behind him.

“Sit down, Shikadai”, Shikamaru said. “I want to talk to you.”

Shikadai sat down with a thump. He refused to look Shikamaru in the eyes.

“I’m sorry”, Shikamaru said without stopping himself. Shikadai’s gaze shot up from the board, and he opened his mouth but couldn’t get a single sound out of it. “I’m sorry for putting you in this situation. I did it because I thought it would protect you, but I was wrong. It was my fault for not telling you the truth. But I really wished you would’ve told me when you met him. Were you scared of my reaction?”

Shikadai shrugged his shoulders.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It matters”, Shikamaru said. “You… you don’t have to pretend to not care. Please. I want to know what you think, what you’re feeling, without you having to guess what I would’ve done if I were you. Because you are you.”

“I… was scared”, Shikadai admitted, still not knowing what to think or say.

“I’m sorry for scaring you”, Shikamaru said. “I’m still mad at you, Shikadai. But I understand. I understand why you did what you did.” He drew a sharp breath. “Your mum would’ve done the same.”

“I wanted to fight with you”, Shikadai said. “I wanted to prove –“

“You proved more than enough”, Shikamaru said. “I’m proud that you tried to beat Hidan. I’m proud that you told Inojin, and Mirai about this, that you were braver than I was. I kept quiet, and I did the wrong thing. Can you forgive your lame excuse of a father?”

Shikadai couldn’t hide a tiny smile.

“Yeah”, he said.

“Hug?”

Shikadai scuffed over to Shikamaru and received a hug from him.

“I love you, my desert boy”, Shikamaru murmured into Shikadai’s hair.

“Why can’t I go?” Shikadai asked after Temari’s harsh command to stay at home.

“You’re grounded. That’s why.”

“But I already told Inojin we would meet –“

“You made plans without asking us first?” Temari narrowed her eyes.

“How long am I going to be grounded?” Shikadai muttered. “I’ve said I’m sorry a thousand times already, and the Seventh is on the case already.”

“Until tomorrow”, Temari said. “Tomorrow you can meet up with Inojin.”

Shikadai sighed. He knew what day tomorrow was. Tomorrow the Hokage would decide whether he would be punished or not for digging up Hidan and leaving the grave open. Shikadai was living in a limbo, he couldn’t leave his house or meet up with his friends, and he grew more frustrated every hour that passed. The frustration was, however, not the primary emotion, it was used to cover his anxiety.

“What do you think they’re going to say?” Shikadai asked and Temari sat beside him. She smiled at him.

“Are you nervous?”

“Yeah”, Shikadai mumbled and scratched his neck. “What I get… banished or something.”

“You won’t be banished”, Temari laughed at him. “And even if you would be, there’s always Suna.”

“Argh, it’s not funny, mum!”

“Well, you’re probably going to be put off missions for a while”, Temari said. “Konoha have pretty meek punishments.”

There was a long silence.

“What would Gaara do?” Shikadai asked quietly and Temari stared at him.

“What?”

“If this was Suna, and I dug up an S-rank criminal and helped him get to friends and was the ultimate reason for someone’s ninken’s death, what would Gaara do to me? What punishment?” He pressed his closed fists up to his cheeks, pouting.

“Well…” Temari started but didn’t know how to finish. Desert prisons and torture chambers that were shut down just mere years ago flashed before her eyes, as well as the tens and tens of prisoners that she had personally executed in her youth. Single, clean strikes and a mass grave.

All that was gone now. Suna did not have capital punishments anymore. No more unnecessary deaths.

“We use chakra shackles for most small crimes”, Temari said after a while. “You know, for messing up missions on purpose and that kind of stuff. It’s simple, doesn’t hurt, but still reminds the person of what he or she did.”

She didn’t get to explain more before Shikamaru approached from the road. He had a cigarette in his mouth and threw the cigarette box to Temari.

“Let’s talk, you and me”, he said, and Shikadai understood to leave them alone. Shikamaru didn’t sound happy at all and it worried him. After Shikadai had retreated to his room, Shikamaru slumped down beside Temari. He gave her the lighter, and she lit a cigarette for herself.

“Bad news?” she asked quietly, so Shikadai couldn’t hear them.

“They won’t let me know”, Shikamaru mumbled.

“What? I thought you would assist Naruto.”

“Well, so did I”, Shikamaru said. “Turns out they won’t let me be on Shikadai’s case. That this is too personal for me, and I could let my ‘personal feelings’ cloud my judgement. Fucking hell.”

“Maybe they’re right”, Temari said after blowing out smoke.

“Do you think I’m going to lose my job?” Shikamaru asked after a while. “Because I sneaked behind Naruto’s back?”

“They can’t afford losing you”, Temari snorted.

“I’m serious! They’re shutting me out.”

“It’s because it’s your own son’s punishment they’re figuring out”, Temari said. “Let them do their thing, and everything will go back to normal. But if Naruto, for some unimaginable reason would fire you, then you know that Suna has our back.”

“I had nightmares again”, Shikamaru said, so quietly Temari almost didn’t hear him.

“I know”, she said. “You cried in your sleep.”

“Sorry for waking you up”, Shikamaru said, and Temari leaned forward and kissed him.

Shikadai was called into the Hokage’s office the following day. He tried to feel indifferent, because he knew he had it coming, he tried to fake an “I don’t give a shit”-attitude, but it was hard.

If he was completely honest, he felt good that the three days long limbo was ending. In three days, he had done nothing, only stayed at home. None one had understandably missions for him and Moegi had called off all training.

So, he was happy that the uncertainty was ending. As he walked into Naruto’s office, Boruto’s dad’s office, all the self-confidence he had built up to face some sort of minitrial slid off him. Naruto did not look at all like the grown up Shikadai has learned to know through Boruto. He looked angry, almost scary.

It finally hit him now, and a big, black clod got stuck in his throat. His dad stood behind him, stiff, with arms crossed over his chest. If the situation was any other, Shikamaru would lean against the wall, but not even the Hokage’s assistant felt like being nonchalant when his son was about to get delivered a penalty.

“Hey, Shikadai”, Naruto said, but there was no warmth in his voice. “You don’t have to do any talking this time. We heard already plenty back when you first came. I just want you to listen this time.” He raised his gaze and looked at Shikamaru. “I guess you know why you haven’t been part of the team deciding the penalty. Because he’s your son.”

“Who’s been on the team, then?” Shikamaru asked bitterly.

“Sasuke and I.”

It took all Shikamaru’s willpower to not blurt out a _oh for fucks’ sake,_ but he managed to keep quiet.

“And Gaara.”

Shikadai stared at Naruto, and he sensed how Shikamaru behind him made a gesture, but he couldn’t see which one. What did Gaara have to do with this?

“The three of us looked into the series of events in this hell of a roller coaster, and even if you didn’t know what consequences your action was going to give us, you still did put enormous effort into digging up Hidan”, Naruto said to Shikadai. “This was more than just a mistake. Way more than a simple mistake in the heat of the moment. You committed hours to get Hidan out of the grave, and you left the grave open. You didn’t inform Shikamaru immediately what you’d done, and you probably knew already by then that this had a bad ending. But you didn’t do anything about it.”

Naruto paused to let the words sink in. Shikadai had his gaze fixed on the ground. To say that he was ashamed would be an understatement; he _cringed_ at the very thought of his own stupidity, and deep inside he knew he deserved this. Is wasn’t like Temari and Shikamaru hadn’t already scolded him and said what Naruto just had, but the effect was different. This wasn’t his parents, this was the Hokage of their village.

“We decided that you, as a punishment, will bear chakra shackles for a month – “

Shikadai was almost struck by a déjà vu as Naruto delivered his line.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Shikamaru interrupted. “Come one, chakra shackles.”

“Do I have to repeat that you’re not part of the team deciding penalties here?” Naruto said, and he sounded tired.

“No”, Shikamaru said and bit his tongue.

“Good”, Naruto said and turned back to Shikadai. He lifted two thick metal bracelets off the table, that looked exactly like heavy shackles, lacking the connective chain. “They don’t hurt you. The only thing they do is controlling your chakra so you can’t use it. They don’t have any tracker in them, and you’re free to do whatever you wish during this month.”

Shikadai nodded.

“My – my team”, he said, staring at the cuffs. “What about missions?”

“We have two options”, Naruto said. “One. Team 10 decided that they will let you be part of the team for this one month. If so, you’ll be assigned only D-Rank missions with a non-chakra guarantee. It’ll be more of the physical labour nature. Two. Team 10 decides they in fact don’t want to do non-chakra D-Rank missions. In that case, they will be temporarily conjoined with Team 5 into a five man-squad, and they will be assigned missions that demands chakra. You’ll be unemployed during this time.”

“Okay”, Shikadai said, but he felt everything but okay. Chakra controlling shackles, that sounded like something only criminals wear. Naruto gestured him to come closes, and he obeyed. He reached out his hand and one of the shackles was put in place with a _click_ and all chakra was forced out of that hand. It stung a bit, and he felt almost numb for a second.

The other one was put on the other arm and shut around his wrist. The cuffs were not particularly heavy, but big enough so it would be a drag to even try to cover them, Shikadai realized at he felt them.

“On the thirtieth day you’ll be able to infuse chakra into your hands, and they’ll fall of by themselves”, Naruto explained. “When they do, bring them back here, will you?”

“Yes”, Shikadai answered quietly.

“You may now leave”, he said, and Shikadai turned around, about to leave the room together with Shikamaru. “Shikamaru. You stay here. I want to talk to you.”

Shikadai looked at Shikamaru, who gestured him to get out. He obeyed and shut the door behind him.

When his footsteps were beyond hearing distance Shikamaru scratched his neck, and sighed.

“Well… here I am”, he said.

“First of all, what the hell were you thinking?” Naruto asked. “I know T&I already asked you this, but I have to ask you personally.”

“I don’t know. I got caught in a time when I was sixteen and faced Hidan the first time. I really did the wrong thing, I know.”

“Because you were probably not thinking at all”, Naruto said, but then smiled at Shikamaru. “I would probably have done the same thing. I get that this got incredibly personal to you, and I get you wanted to fix this yourself, but his time you messed up. Come one, where’s my thinking-two hundreds-step-ahead-guy?”

“I think I left my brain in the Nara forest”, Shikamaru admitted.

“You sure did”, Naruto said absentmindedly. “Have you thanked Ino yet? She’s quite the hero of this story.”

“Yes, I have”, Shikamaru said. “And I think I’ll never be able to hear the end of this. This is a story to be passed down to our freaking great grandchildren.”

“I still can’t quite forgive you for being a big idiot in this whole mess”, Naruto said. “But once you’ve picked up the brain you left in your forest, will you come back here and help me rewrite all the mission reports into a coherent protocol?”

Shikamaru blinked at him.

“Come one, dude, did you think I’d fire you?” Naruto laughed. “I was tempted, but there’s no way in hell I’d manage without you. And after we’ve finished the protocols, you treat me a drink.”

Shikamaru visibly relaxed at Naruto’s carefree tone. He put his hands against his forehead and slowly exhaled.

“Thank you”, he just said. “But damn, Naruto, you almost gave everything away when you mentioned Gaara. It’s not official yet, Shikadai doesn’t know.”

“It’s almost official”, Naruto said absentmindedly, while stacking the mission reports. “For him, it already is.”

The sun set over the horizon and casted an orange light over the cliff where Shikadai and Inojin sat. Upon hearing the news about Team 10’s close future and a possible conjunction with Team 5, Moegi had immediately called in Inojin and Chocho to discuss what they wanted to do, a meeting Shikadai was not allowed to be part of. He had been kind of nervous when Inojin told him he wanted to meet him, only the two of them, before Moegi had time to call him or anything.

They had sat on that cliff for quite some time in silence. Shikadai knew Inojin glanced at the cuffs around his wrists, and he made no effort in trying to hide them.

“It’s only a month after all”, Shikadai said after a while. “It’s not that much. Whatever you chose, I’m happy with it.”

“Hey, Shikadai, do you honestly think we’d leave you out just so we can do some fighting?” Inojin asked. “We chose of course to do only the most boring D-Rank missions. We’re a team! Both Chocho and I agreed immediately. We won’t let you be by yourself for a whole month.”

“You really did that?” Shikadai said, smiling. “Thank you.”

The silence set once again. Inojin studied him for a long while. He turned his gaze down, fidgeting with his fingers.

“Besides…” he begun. “I kind of like having you around. Like… you know. I like being with you.”

He fell silent and stared intensely at his own hands. Shikadai noticed the redness that covered Inojin’s face, and he couldn’t but smile at him. He was cute when being flustered.

“I kind of like being around”, Shikadai answered and Inojin’s face shot up.

“Cool”, he said and looked straight at the setting sun. Only a few more minutes before it would disappear behind the horizon. “I have to be home when the darkness come. So… I’ll have to leave soon.”

Shikadai looked him in the eyes and Inojin swore, if the butterflies in his belly didn’t calm down, he’d scream. He smiled again and Inojin melted.

“Thank you for telling your mum”, Shikadai said. “Things would’ve turned out pretty bad if Ino wouldn’t gone out her way to find my mum and found us and everything. So… thanks.”

Without thinking, without stopping himself, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Inojin’s cheek (_what the hell am I even doing,_ he is thinking to himself, _this is so weird but so nice at the same time_), before sliding down the cliff.

“Hey, you can’t do that and just leave!” Inojin shouted from the top of the slope.

“Sorry, we have to be home before nightfall, and the sun is almost gone”, Shikadai shouted, with a nervous laughter bubbling in his throat. “If you didn’t like it, pretend it never happened.”

“I did like it, you fool!” Inojin called out, red in the face.

“See you tomorrow, Inojin”, Shikadai greeted with a grin, and left.

He strutted home with his hands in his pockets, not really figuring out why he had done that. Had he meant it as a joke, or not? The warm feeling in his belly told him one thing, reason told him something else. Before he had time to figure out an answer, he noticed more shoes than normal at the porch at their home.

When entering the living room, he saw Mirai and Kurenai sit with his parents.

“There you are”, Mirai said when he came in. “What did Inojin say? Do you get a month for yourself or not?”

“They are accepting D-Ranks instead of joining Team 5”, Shikadai told them, pushing the kissing to the back of his head. “So, no. I’m not about to be unemployed for thirty days.”

“Can I see them?” Mirai asked as Shikadai sat by her side. He pulled up his sleeves as an answer, revealing the cuffs. Mirai examined them with interest.

“Wow”, she said. “I never imagined them taking such measures. But, fine. They don’t hurt, and you get to chill with chickens and such. Weed gardens, find kittens.”

“It’s fine”, Shikadai said, and Shikamaru huffed to get his attention.

“We’ve filled the hole in the forest now”, he said. “No more forbidden parts. You may roam wherever you want.”

“Cool”, Shikadai.

“Shikadai”, Temari said. “On your thirtieth day of chakra control, we’re going to visit Suna again. You and me. Just a quick visit.”

“But we got home from Suna like two weeks ago”, Shikadai pointed out.

“A quick visit”, Temari repeated.

“Why?”

“You’ll see”, she said. “Just a little vacation during your last day of penalty, that’s all.”

Shikadai threw a glance at Mirai, who did not seem innocent at all, and she _knew_ what was going on, he saw that in her eyes. Mirai couldn’t ever keep secrets from him, as many days as they’ve spent together. She always had the silly face when trying to keep herself from laughing.

“Whatever”, Shikadai said. “What a drag.”

Mirai and Shikamaru burst out in laughter while Temari rubbed her forehead. How could he resemble his father in so many ways? Her idiot son, her most beloved son. She could not stop grinning for herself, because she knew there was as much of her inside him. Just wait until he unlocks it all.

“Shikadai, my best nephew!” Kankuro greeted them at the train station thirty days after Shikadai got his chakra shackles locked onto his wrists. Shikadai could already feel the effect of them weaken, and he was positive that before he went to sleep, he would be able to mould chakra in his hands and unlock the cuffs. He couldn’t wait for it.

As the days had passed by, he had been used to the feeling of constantly having metal enclosed around his wrists, but he had gotten equally annoyed with them, too. They got sometimes stuck in his clothes, or in his bag, even if he hadn’t needed to use any ninja tools during the two D-rank missions they had done the past month. He had spent most of his free time playing shogi, or videogames. Sometimes with Mirai, or with Boruto. Most of the time with Inojin.

He didn’t really know what the deal with him and Inojin was. They were friends, but sometimes there was something more, and he didn’t know. They never voiced it out loud. They almost held hands once, but Inojin chickened out, because they both agreed that this behaviour was indeed not what maybe was expected out of their friendship.

Maybe it was best he didn’t know. But he knew that he got that warm feeling every time he and Inojin met.

“Don’t let Shinki hear you, you goose”, Temari greeted her younger brother back.

“Oh my god, it’s hot”, was the only thing Shikadai got out. The sun was setting, but still scorching. He had his summer desert clothes on, but they didn’t seem to help.

“Hot?” Kankuro repeated. “It’s not even 40 degrees Celsius at the moment.”

“What a drag.”

“I missed you too, kiddo”, Kankuro laughed. “Come on, let’s get some sleep. Your big day is tomorrow.”

“Actually, I think I can unlock the chakra cuffs tonight already”, Shikadai answered and showed his uncle the shackles. “They are supposed to fall off by themselves if you can mould chakra in your hands.”

Kankuro blinked, as if this was not the answer he expected. After an elbow between his ribs by his older sister he smiled and showed his thumb up. Shikadai narrowed his eyes. So, they were not talking about him being able to use chakra again after a penalty of thirty days.

What on earth could be a bigger thing than being able to use chakra again?

Luckily, Shikadai got the soft bed he always wanted to sleep in while visiting family in Suna, and in bed, while fidgeting with the cuffs, he moulded chakra and he felt it spreading to his fingertips – oh, how he had _longed_ for that moment – and the shackles opened and fell down on his face.

“Mum!” he shouted after rubbing the bruise the shackles caused on his forehead. “They opened! I can use ninjutsu again!”

Temari opened her eyes and smiled broadly.

“Awesome”, she said. “Good job, Shikadai. Now all your sins have been repaid. Let’s forget Hidan for now.”

“Yeah”, he mumbled to himself, clutching the now exposed skin on his wrists. A tan line could be seen. “Good night, mum.”

The following day, after breakfast, Temari showed Shikadai more streets of the town she grew up in. Shikadai knew most of the streets already, and could find his way around town by himself, but this time they went down an alley he hadn’t walked down before.

“Come”, Temari said and showed him into a workshop. “Hokori? Are you here?”

A man with sand blonde hair and green eyes walked into the room from behind a corner.

“Temari!” he greeted. “Long time since last, cousin.”

“Cousin?” Shikadai repeated.

“Hokori, this is my son Shikadai”, Temari said. “Shikadai, this is my cousin Hokori. He’s my father’s sister’s son.”

“So, this is your Shadow boy”, Hokori said and eyed Shikadai with interest. “Nice to meet you, Shikadai. I heard it’s time for you to get a fan of your own.”

A fan… of his own?

His eyes widened and he snapped out of his trance when Temari placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes”, she said. “He’s turning fourteen soon, and I figured out he would exceed in his shinobi career if he got a weapon.”

Shikadai turned to his mum.

“Are you serious?” he asked her, with gleaming eyes. “Like really serious?”

“I had a fan custom made for you”, Temari said, and winked at him. “Hokori is the skilled master who made my newest fan, too. Even if it’s Suna customary to have a white fan with purple stars, like I have, I guessed that white and purple isn’t really your thing, so we made it different colours.”

Hokori revealed an iron fan that had been hiding under a sheet of cloth on his table. He reached it to Shikadai.

“Open it”, he said, and Shikadai obeyed and found the most beautiful fan he had ever seen. The iron fan was pitch black with beige stars, and the Nara crest was painted in green on the metal handle.

“Holy shit”, Shikadai said. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”

Temari smiled and unlocked her own fan from her back.

“Shall we take a match?” she asked, teasingly.

“You bet!”

“Please, not in the village”, Hokori tried, but his words fell to deaf ears.

They stood on top of one of the tallest buildings of the whole Village Hidden in the Sand, both with their fans unfolded. Shikadai tried his best to hide the fact that just keeping the fan up in a battle-ready position drained chakra from him, and he had been able to use his chakra for the first time in thirty days for only a night and half a day.

But he fought with the first jutsu demaning a fan that Temari had instructed him on the way up to the roof. It was the basic jutsu, just thrusting air with the help of the tessen, and Shikadai managed to do only three of them in a row before he felt the familiar _snap_ in his body that alerted him that his chakra was drained.

“How do you feel?” Temari asked after giving him water.

“Great”, Shikadai said. “Or, I’m fucking tired –“

“Language, young man.”

“Sorry. It drained all of my chakra.”

“I guessed it would”, Temari said. “Come. The coffee will be ready when we’re back home.” By home, she meant the house she grew up in. The house Gaara and Shinki lived in, with Kankuro renting one of the flats.

“Mum?”

“Yeah?”

“Make a cup for me, too.”

When Shikadai couldn’t see her face, Temari smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.

Everyone was gathered around the coffee table when Shikadai and Temari stepped inside the living room.

“How is that fan of yours?” Shinki asked, as soon as they came in.

“Great”, Shikadai said and proudly showed the family his new weapon. “Custom made for me.”

“And it cost a fortune, might I add”, Kankuro said, and Temari stomped on his foot. “Ow, ow! But it’s true.”

“Shut your trap”, Temari hissed. “Where is that damn coffee? It was supposed to be ready when we got back.”

“Sorry, got caught up in something”, Kankuro mumbled.

“Well, what was it?” Temari snorted.

“Those damn papers for Shikadai!” Kankuro said and gave Temari a meaningful grimace when she stared angrily at him. “What? You wanted it fixed for today, and you know we’re not that fast.”

“You can’t ever shut up, Kankuro.”

“What papers?” Shikadai asked with raised eyebrows. “Does my fan need be registered or something?”

“Not the fan”, Kankuro said and winked. “_You_ need to be registered.”

Shikadai blinked at him.

“Me?”

Gaara cleared his throat, and they all looked at him.

“There’s something we Kages have been working on for the past… year, maybe”, he said. “There’s a rising trend of shinobi with parents from two different villages, a result of the Allied Forces and the peace time that followed. We have now developed a system for such shinobi as yourself, that allows double registration. In short, those shinobi may, if they wish, attain double citizenship.”

Shikadai stared at him.

“And if you wish, we can registrate you as a Suna shinobi, now.”

“Oh”, Shikadai said.

“You dad has been really jealous of this”, Temari said, jokingly. “He wants his shadow boy all by himself. But if you want, you can be one with the desert, too.”

“Is that why you helped Naruto in deciding the penalty?” Shikadai asked his uncle. “Because… you could me my Kage, too?”

“Yes”, Gaara said.

“And… if war would break out between Suna and Konoha, then –“

“Don’t imagine such things”, Temari cut him off.

“That is the main downside of this plan”, Gaara cut his sister off. “You would have to choose then. But during peace, which we hope will last for a lifetime, it’s not relevant.”

“It all came so sudden”, Shikadai said, flustered. “I don’t know, it sounds really cool.”

Shinki rose from his seat, opened the drawer and found his extra forehead protector with the Suna crest that Shikadai had tried on a few weeks earlier. He tossed the forehead protector to Shikadai.

“Put it on”, he said, but there was a choice in his words. The choice to disobey and not put it on rested entirely on Shikadai, and he realized that him putting it on would be his answer. He reflected himself in the smooth metal, without knowing what to do. Then, when he stared at himself, into his own eyes, he saw the desert and wind and sand flash inside them, and he raised the forehead protector and tied it around his head.

“Where is that damn coffee?” he asked, imitating his mother, and they all broke out in a happy laughter.

Shikamaru visited later in July Kiba’s new family, into which three healthy daughters had been born through C-section on the planned date. The household was in a pandemonium with three new born children (Shikamaru had almost gone insane from just one relatively easy baby), but as Tamaki was breastfeeding one child, and Kiba caressed the second, Akamaru walked around with the third baby in a basket attached to his back, making her ultimately fall asleep. The cats walked around and checked on everyone, and hissed to Shikamaru as he sat down in the sofa.

“They don’t bite”, Tamaki said to him as he moved himself a little more to the side on the sofa when one of the black cats sniffed his arm. She didn’t even look up from her child, she was so in love.

Kiba told Shikamaru that he had a new ninken incoming as soon as his daughters got a little bit older, one of Hana’s ninkens had a litter from where he was getting his new puppy.

“Same parents as Damaru has, so, we’ll see what whirlwind I get”, he said. “It’s a wolfdog and not a dog, which is exciting.” His baby girl fell asleep in his arms, and he lowered his voice. “Hey, Shikamaru. I have forgiven you. I miss Akemaru, but my hands are full of wonderful human pups. We’re happy now as it is, and before fall, I’ll have a new beast to train. His name will be Shiromaru.”

Tension in Shikamaru’s mind released, and he couldn’t but smile.

Mirai became jonin on her first try. They all celebrated it with cake and tea (and coffee; Shikadai made also a promise to learn to drink the hideous drink, and so far, he had manage to empty four cups without gagging) and Shikadai felt like the proudest little bother in the world, alongside with Shikamaru, who felt like the proudest teacher and father-figure in the world.

Later that same day, when the grown ups had started taking sake and wine, Shikadai asked Mirai to join him outside. She had had one drink so far, and he didn’t want the moment ruined by her getting drunk.

“What is it?” Mirai asked.

“Do you know when you really like someone, but everything is weird about it?” Shikadai asked and Mirai looked at him.

“Huh?”

“Like… I like someone.”

“Really? That’s cute.”

“Shut up. Everything about it is weird. And I don’t know what to do”, Shikadai finished.

“Have you told her?”

“It’s not a her”, Shikadai muttered and turned his face away.

“Do they know?” Mirai corrected.

“This is so weird!” Shikadai let out his frustration. “It’s not normal!”

“All love is normal”, Mirai said. “Do not for one second believe that what you’re feeling is wrong. All love is weird anyways.”

“I kissed him on the cheek”, Shikadai mumbled, and Mirai could barely hear him.

“Did he like it?”

Shikadai nodded.

“Then there’s no problem”, Mirai said. “Come back inside now. Let’s celebrate that you have double citizenship, Nara Shikadai of the Sand.”

“But it’s still a secret, it’s not official yet”, Shikadai said. “The whole thing is released in August.”

“Well, that Suna forehead protector in your room is quite visible”, Mirai teased. “Come.” She grabbed him by his wrist, and they went back inside.

Team Ten started a new training programme to adapt to the new fighting style Shikadai was trying to learn, and they advanced quickly. Ino-Shika-Cho was not anymore about bodily expansions as diversions, shadows as bindings and mind transfer as a finishing move, it had evolved into both expansions and sword fighting, both mind transfers and ninja art with the beast scroll, and finally both shadows and wind.

Shikadai could use both his shadows and wind. Because that was what he was made of. Shadows and Sand.

They laid in a clearing, all covered in sweat from the latest training, and they were so exhausted that they barely had any chakra left, but it didn’t matter. They were going to be strong. They were going to be a team Konoha could be proud of, with shinobi Konoha, and Suna, and Kumo could be proud of.

And as they laid, feeling the sun caressing their faces, Shikadai felt for Inojin’s hand. He found it and laced his fingers together with Inojin’s. This was the first time they held hands, for real.

In that moment, everything was perfect.

They weren’t under any threats. Hidan was gone. Shikadai had gotten double citizenship (and sown the new Suna forehead protector on his sleeve below his Konoha version), and he had friends and family who cared for him.

In this moment, everything was perfect.

The butterflies in his belly made him warm, and he wondered when they should tell Chocho. He thought about the day he had confessed to Inojin, both that he was no longer just a Konoha shinobi, but also that he really liked him.

And to all of that, Inojin had responded with a kiss.

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've read all the Shikajin-fics on this site, and couldn't get enough so here's my contribution, because I couldn't contain myself.
> 
> It's finished! Feels great to have finished this project, and not leaving the readers to wait for you to upload. And hopefully my English was good enough to deliver such a story. This particular Hidan-Shikamaru-Shikadai-story was the first thing that came into my mind after Shikamaru's arc in Shippuden, and when I found no one had written it, I had to do it myself.
> 
> Please, let me know what you thought about this story as a whole. I'd love to hear what you thought :) 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! Hopefully I hear from you again, in some other fic in the future. It's been a great week uploading the chapters.
> 
> My tumblr is unioncolours.tumblr.com


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